Keep them safe
by robinh
Summary: The explosion happens early in the morning, when he's out on his morning run. A case based, with great danger and tension. Steve on a rampage, family under fire and romance.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N**: I do not own Hawaii Five 0. The characters belong to CBS. Everything you recognize doesn't belong to me. This is a new fic, Case based but with some drama around it. An attempt to do something a bit different than my usual stuff, but I still hope you'll like it.

Please tell me what you think.

R.

* * *

The explosion happens early in the morning, when he's out on his morning run.

He starts off like in any other day. He parks the car in his usual place at the edge of the ridge, and walks to the highest point, to take a look at the glorious diamond sea beneath him. He makes a few stretches, and makes sure his shoe laces are tied properly, before he starts his usual round.

He runs the trail for an hour and a half, lets the rhythmic sound of his feet hitting the ground guide his pace. He cleans his mind from any foreign thoughts about the case load, the governor, the paperwork, and concentrates on his muscles trying to fight the steep elevations, and the winding gravel road. He surrenders himself to the burning sensation and to the heat of his muscles, feeling how the sweat soaks his clothes. He takes deep slow breaths of clean air into his lungs, and releases them slowly, methodically, in coordination with the constant pace. It's a long, strenuous, vigorous exercise, and he's all alone there, on the deserted trail. Everything around him is quiet and still, the sun which is steadily elevating in the sky above him, illuminates the world in a mixture of orange and white.

When he reaches the truck again, he stops for a second to take off his sweaty shirt, and to throw it in the bed of the truck. He pulls out an energy drink from his backpack that is waiting for him there, and walks over to the end of the ridge, to drink it and watch the sea for a while. It's his favorite time of the day. The only moment of quiet he has for himself, before he goes home to get ready for work. Just standing there, alone in the precious silence, it makes him smile, as he looks at the long coast line that stretches before him. God, he simply loves this place.

He finishes his drink, and pulls the car keys from his pocket, then he turns around and clicks open the car from a distance of about fifteen yards. The moment he pushes the button, he feels like the air is suddenly sucked out of him, as the car explodes and sends him flying on the rocks.

/

/

Chin is the first one to find him there. The guy has a magical way to sense everything that happens on the island. He has the uncanny ability to recognize every change in movement, every shift of energy, and today is no different. He is spending the morning in HPD, going over the arrests reports from the previous month, when they get a call about a big explosion near the _Tantalus route_. He knows it's Steve's favorite running spot, and he feels the cold icy grip of fear around his spine, way before Milai is looking at him horrified, mentioning a blue pickup truck.

/

/

He lies in the hospital bed, his ears ringing, his muscles all strained from the blow caused by the shock wave. His back and chest are bruised from the impact with the rocks, and his head pounding like crazy. The doctor who stands above him, which he can't really see properly due to the strong light of the lamp behind her, tells him again and again how lucky he is for surviving this with such minor injuries. It's still hard for him to absorb everything that happened, and he hears only half sentences at this point, but he really doubts _'lucky'_ will be a good way to describe it.

When Danny barges into the room, half angry, half relieved, half worried out of his mind, he finally has something familiar to focus on. He looks at him steadily, wishing him silently to keep his voice down, and whispers hoarsely "where are they?"

/

/

"They're in HQ" Danny tells him "As is Mary Ann. I called Kono the minute I've heard. I told her to park the car away from the street and to wait for us inside."

"Good" he exhales, laying his head back on the bed. They're alive. They're protected. They... his throat tightens when he realizes they're still in great danger.

"It wasn't an accident, Danny" he looks at him seriously "they've targeted my car. My own fucking car. The one I drive when I'm picking her up. The one she uses for shopping, the one we took camping last month, the one... Danny..." he swallows hard "I... "

"I know, babe. Just... Chin is already on top of this, once I've seen you're doing well here, I'm going back there myself. I'll talk to her, I'll make sure we have a proper plan for all of them. I won't let any of them out of my sight. Trust me."

/

/

Danny leaves when they wheel him up to the floor. He argues all the way up there, explains repeatedly that he's fine, that he has only superficial injuries, that the reason he looks like a bloody mess is because he had no shirt on when the damn car blew up, and demands loudly that they'll let him go. Fortunately there's a big military nurse there who'd seen enough in her days, to ignore his quite vocal refusals and to push him gently, but firmly back on the gurney when he tries to get up. The fact that his head is still throbbing, and that the dizziness attacks him when he tries to make sudden movements, helps her to keep him listen to her eventually, and to obediently let them do whatever they want.

/

/

It's half an hour later when he realizes he has no phone on him. The phone was in the car when it happened. He's not entirely sure which floor they put him on, and he has no idea how his team is doing, and he has no idea what _she_ said when Danny told her... he presses the red call button for the nurse, violently. When nobody comes he starts shouting desperately for someone to get in the room. He's half way out of bed, overwhelmed by nausea and pain when the military nurse finds him fighting to breathe, and pushes him back on the mattress.

"What the hell is the matter with you?" she scolds him "are you trying to kill yourself?

"A phone" he mumbles when she still holds his shoulders "I need a phone. Please, I'll behave, I promise. Just give me a god damn phone."

/

/

"Kono?" he mumbles when he hears her voice, on the other side of the line.

"Steve" she breathes out "Steve..." she says again with a whisper, and he can hear a door closes near her "I wanted to come see you, but Danny said..."

"I'm fine" he smiles in relief "where are you?"

"We're in HQ" she tells him quickly "we were driving, when Danny called. Please baby, I want to come see you."

"No" he says quickly "it's not safe. I just... Kono..."

"Steve, please" she says quietly "I don't want you to be there alone."

"I'll be out of here soon" he reassures her, sending a careful look at the nurse who shakes her head at his overly optimistic assumption "just... for the mean time, just do what Danny and Chin say. They have more information than I do, anyway."

"Okay, Steve" she whispers "we'll be right here, waiting... just take care of yourself."

"It'll be fine, baby" he sighs deeply "We'll get through this in one piece. I promise."

/

/

He falls asleep after he speaks to her. Her soft voice, her amazing ability to stay calm despite her worst fears. The fact that she's safe, that they all are. It's the only thing that makes him relax enough to make it possible.

He wakes up an hour later. Breathing better, moving better, with no more ringing in his ears. He sits up on the bed gingerly, and tries to assess his balance, before moving to stand on his feet. He is able to make two steps forward, without toppling over and breaking his neck in the process, the fact that it works, makes him smile tiumphantly. He decides to take it as a positive sign. When he raises his head, and looks towards the door, he sees Joe white standing there, leaning on the wall.

/

/

"Joe" he calls his old CO's name with surprise. Instinctively it feels like it's the right man showing up exactly in the right time. But when he looks at the old guy's grave expression, he suddenly has a bad feeling about it. _A very bad_ feeling about it. The guy went off the grid months ago. He tried to get a hold of him, repeatedly, without any luck. The fact that he's showing up now, after his entire world literally exploded around him, that can't be a good sign.

"What's going on Joe?" he asks quietly, stretching into attention and tightening his fists.

"Steve, you look like shit" Joe sighs "I'll tell you, but you'd better sit down for this."

/

/

He stops registering what Joe is telling him somewhere around the second sentence. His body hurts, his head throbs with pain, and his mouth suddenly filled with bitter taste of disgust. Maybe it's the fact that he's still injured, maybe it's the fact that he sits there in the hospital, without being able to work with his team, maybe it's because his whole world just collapsed around him, leaving him scared and worried out of his fucking mind. Maybe it's all these together, maybe it's none of these at all. Maybe it's the fact that Joe just stands there, and telling him Wo Fat is back from the dead, coming to take his revenge.

_/_

_/_

He's back. He's back and he's angry, and he's out for blood. Wo Fat. His old time nemesis, only this time he crossed the line. When Joe says the name, and starts to explain about the way the guy rebuilt his organization, gradually finding a new hold on the island, he can hardly hear the words. All he can feel is the blinding rage, and to think about the lines that were crossed, when he got too close. He went too close to his family. He could have... he can't even think about the possibility... He looks up at Joe with bloodshot eyes, the guy is fucking dead.

"I'm getting out of here" he tells Joe, ignoring his skeptical glare as he pulls out the IV.

"Fine" the older man shrugs after a few moments "but I've seen your nurse out there, _I'm_ not explaining it to _her_."

/

/

He spends the entire ride to HQ talking on the phone to the governor, explaining what's going on. He makes another call to a buddy of his, working for the FBI and begs for a protection custody for his family. He makes the guy promise that a team of agents will meet him in the Five 0 headquarters, with a detailed security plan. Then, finally, he can lay back in the passenger seat, and relax for a few minutes.

When he walks into HQ, still wearing the hospital's gown, Chin is still on the scene helping with the searches and supervising the collection of evidences, Danny is on the phone trying to get visuals from traffic cameras in the area and Kono is in his office, hunched over a map on the floor.

/

/

"Where is she?" he asks when he enters his office, making her look up at him with surprise.

"In the basement with Mary Ann and two HPD cops" she says quickly, before jumping on her feet and running towards him, hugging him, burring her face in the crook of his neck.

"I'm fine" he murmurs, stroking her hair "it's fine. I swear" she only nods silently, before moving away from him, letting him move slowly towards his desk to pull out some extra clothes.

"What are you doing with the map?" he asks her when she jus stands there looking at him putting his clothes on, biting her lower lip, silently, at the sight of his wounds.

"I was looking at the trail" she mumbles "the ballistic analysis suggests that the bomb had to be put in the car when it was parked. That there's no way it was there before you drove it from the house to the ridge."

"Okay" he looks interested "so what's with the map?"

"I've talked to Charlie. He looked at the wiring... well, what was left of them anyway. You know him, he's a genius. He went to the parking lot, found a similar truck and tried to assemble the device himself."

"He did?" Steve smiles "that's... well? what did he find?"

"It took him 18.2 minutes" she tells him.

"18.2?" he smiles "that's very precise."

"Yes, but he's not a demolition expert" Kono explains seriously "so we estimated an expert will need about ten."

"And the map?"

"I know you, I know there's no way you were followed all the way from the house. You would have noticed them" she says picking the map up, and laying it on his desk "you were late by about twenty minutes today, because..." she smiles sheepishly at him, referring to their morning's very sepcific activity "anyway, I think they were waiting for you to get there."

"I was the only one there" Steve says thoughtfully "there wasn't a single car around."

"Right" Kono nods "so I looked at the trail. Most of it is exposed, you can see around you for miles, but the last part... there's about four miles where you're on a lower plain, and you don't have direct sight to the... anyway, I think they must had a lookout somewhere, they were waiting for you to go over the hill before they had someone come over to rig the car."

"If they had a lookout, they could have just shot me" he mumbles "why make all this effort..."

"close range shooting was not an option" she looks up at him, her voice a little shaky when she discusses his potential killer's logic "and a sniper rifle. You're a moving target, trust me, with the sun coming up from that side, it's practically impossible this time of the morning. And besides..." her voice trails off, her lower lip trembles a little.

"It was a clear violent message" he completes her thought "a threat for the rest of you..."

"Yes" she whispers.

"Okay" he coughs after they just stand there looking silently at each other "so, what are you thinking?"

"If it was up to me, I would have put the lookout here" she marks an X on the map.

"I agree" he tells her "just before the bend in the trail. I'll send a team out there, see if they can find any physical evidences."

"I was just about to go over there" she informs him quickly "I'll take a team from the lab with me, and try to work this angle. I also told Danny. If we got it right, we're looking for two cars."

/

/

He stands there in his office, listening to her plans. She looks determined, focused, looking back at him with resolve.

"I'm sorry babe" he says gently, shaking his head. She looks at him worriedly, if he thinks for a single minute she'll sit this one out...

"I'm going with a team" she says again, desperately "it won't take too long. It's a crucial aspect of this case, I know exactly what I'm looking for, it's..."

"Kono" he says again, a little bit more firmly "you're not going anywhere."

/

/

Chin's return back to HQ back from the scene, incidentally followed by a six FBI agents, makes it impossible for her to respond. Before she knows it, Steve is out of his office, shaking hands with all of them, and makes the proper introductions between them and the Five 0 team. Chin, Danny and Joe are standing beside him, all three of them look serious, their expression grim. When she comes out of the office too, and stands there awkwardly, neither one of them is able to look her in the eyes.

"We have precise orders, commander" the head of the team tells him when she's getting there "if you want, I can give you the details, so you'll know exactly where..."

"No" Steve shakes his head decisively "I... it's fine. Are you ready to leave immediately?"

"The cars are ready" the senior agent tells him "we can practically leave now."

/

/

"Steve" she says quietly, but he doesn't answer "Steve" again, he only bites his lower lip, not even looking her way "Steve" she says again, her voice strangled "please don't do this."

"Thanks man" he says to the head of the FBI team "I really appreciate it. I think you can leave now. They're just about ready. Danny, can you get the girls...?"

"Steve" she takes a hold of his arm, turning him towards her, but when he raises his eyes towards her, she can see only the cold guarded stare of his blue eyes.

There's a moment of silence when nobody speaks, and they just stand there looking at each other, and she can feel the quivering shake of his arm under her hand.

"Steve" Chin calls from behind them "are you seriously not going to ask where they're taking them?"

"I don't want to know" he looks at her pleadingly "I can't risk... I need them away from me, and I need them protected. I need deniability, in case we'll be compromised" he looks at Chin pointedly "I know that it's hard for you, but neither of us can know, I need to know that they're safe."

/

/

"Okay" Chin says finally "Okay. You two, follow me" he pulls her and Steve to his office and opens a metal safe in the back wall. He takes out a shotgun, and a small Beretta. "The shotgun is for you, the Beretta is for Mary Ann. She's a resourceful girl, she'd be able to use it in case... "

"Yeah" Steve says, his voice finally steady enough "you have your own gun too, this is just for extra protection. You know how to use it, Chin do you have enough ammo for her?" Chin only nods, putting everything in a small black bag he pulls from under his desk. "I want you to leave your cell phone behind" Steve continues "Chin, how much cash can you give her?"

"I have four hundreds" Chin looks inside the safe.

"No packing" he orders "you don't go by the house. I don't know where they'll take you, but if you have to shop, or order food, never use any of our regular places, or any of our usual brands..."

"I got it" she promises, looking at him carefully, running her eyes on his tired and bruised face. He keeps talking, explaining, repeating his instruction for the second time, his blue eyes are distant and narrowed, and never meeting hers.

Her cousin is too, pale and serious, his eyes bloodshot and sad when he organizes the bag. Both men go over the bag together, checking the weapons again and again, and again, and again...

/

/

"Will you at least say goodbye?" she asks, her eyes filled with tears when she looks over her shoulder, and sees Danny coming back from the basement.

"I don't think I can" he whispers, shaking his head slowly "I'm... you go" he smiles tightly "it'll be better this way."

She takes the bag from Chin and throws it over her shoulder, then she nods once and walks out of the office.

Chin looks at him for a second, but he doesn't move, so the older man just makes his way after her, following her to the main room.

/

/

He stays in the office, hands on the desk, trembling, breathless, nauseated with pain. When he feels like he might scream, but is still too scared to look up and watch them walking away from him, he turns his back to the main room, and stands with his head pressed to the window.

He spends a few more minutes fighting every fiber of his being that screams at him to run after them. Out there in the main office, his sister, his wife and his sweet little girl are being escorted out, to an unknown location.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N**: Thank you for reading, favoring and following this fic. Especially thank you for commenting on it. I know it's different from the other fics, but I wanted to try something else for a bit. Hope you'll like it all the same.

Please tell me what you think.

* * *

_"I want the red dress" she tells him jumping up and down on the bed. _

_"The red dress?" he looks at her thoughtfully "do you even have a red dress?" _

_"Mmmhhmm" she nods, still jumping up and down. God, he hates it when she makes this sound._

_"Does it mean yes or no?" he asks, just to be sure._

_"Mmmhhmm" she looks at him seriously. That's not as helpful as she might think. _

_"Right. Red dress" he goes to the closet and makes a thorough search there "here. This one?" _

_"Mmmmeemm" she shakes her head decisively. _

_"That's a no, right?" he asks carefully "what about this one?" he pulls out another red dress, that looks almost exactly the same except this one has two white pockets. _

_"Mmmm..." she says again, making him groan internally "yes" she nods after what looks like a very complicated and long internal conflict, but she looks so pleased with his performance, smiling happily at him, it makes his heart melt at the sight. _

_"I want you to make me a ponytail" she informs him after he helps her into the desired red dress, and they both finish fighting with her shoe laces. _

_"You do?" he looks at her skeptically. _

_"Mmmmhhmmm" she nods enthusiastically, turning around in front of him. _

_"Right" he mumbles to himself "a ponytail. How hard can it be, really?" but after a few minutes of scrambling around with his daughter's soft shiny hair, he starts to believe that it's not as easy as he thought it would be "sweetheart" he tells the surprisingly patient little girl "when mommy makes your ponytail... does she do anything special?" the girl looks strangely at him from over her shoulder, wearing the same expression her mother sends him when he does something incredibly stupid, which if he's being honest here, usually happens a few times a week "right" he nods in agreement "stupid question. Still... can you give me a hint maybe?" She only runs to the dresser and comes back with a hair brush "oh yeah" he looks at it curiously "should have probably think about that myself." _

_/_

_When they're in the car, later, and he helps her into her car chair, and fastens her seatbelt, she sends him a lovely dimpled smile from behind her long brown hair that is covering her face, and is definitely not made into a ponytail. _

_"Don't worry, sweetie" he mumbles quietly "we'll ask Ms. Pine in Pre-school to make you a ponytail. She'll understand."_

_/_

_He pulls out in front of the pre-school and turns to her. "We're here, sweetie. You need me to come with you, or you can get to the door on your own?" _

_"I can go" the small girl looks determinedly towards her father. _

_"Okay" he gets out of the car and releases her from the chair "I'll be here. I'll be watching you until you get inside."_

_"Mmmmm" she nods gravely, before she jumps out and starts running, pulling her small Navy backpack behind her. _

_"Wait up, Moana" Steve calls after his daughter "aren't you forgetting something?" _

_The small girl runs back, and jumps into her father's opened arms. She hugs him fiercely, before she lets him lean over and put her back on the ground. Then, she runs towards the pre-school, and disappears inside. _

* * *

/

/

When he steps out of Chin's office, there's enough warning in his cold blue eyes to stop Danny and Chin from saying anything about his recent decision. Chin is still a prisoner to his own fears, barely communicating as it is, and Danny probably knows him well enough, to let it go and just come to stand by his side at the smart table. They all look at Joe, waiting to hear what he has to say.

"I found him in China" Joe says "we all knew Japan was his base of operation, but it seemed too obvious. So instead of wasting my time there, I went after the money, and not the man. He had a few good investments in the Chinese market, that helped quite a few powerful men to get very rich, there. I thought, if he needed financial backup, he would have tried to get it from them. I was right. He was in Nanjing when I found him. He had a big mansion over there, armed guards, and a lot of drugs money he can call his own. It's a big city which is not readily open to governmental supervision, especially as his Chinese allies there, effectively run the entire canton."

"He's living there?" Steve asks, his voice low as he tries to concentrate on the details.

"He was living there after his escape, yes. He was recuperating, licking his wounds so to speak. He hired a small army, vehicles, opened new bank accounts. He made himself strong again."

"When was that?" Danny asks suddenly.

"What?" Joe looks at him with unease.

"_When-was-that_?" Danny repeats slowly "since when have you know?"

"Emmm... since about eight months ago" Joe admits.

"You're a fucking bastard" Danny spits at him "Steve was looking for you the entire time."

"I was only doing surveillance" Joe looks at Steve "all his activities were local, self involved. I didn't know it will come to this."

"He tried to kill Steve three times already. He almost succeeded today. You, showing up, here, now" Danny shouts "you lying son of a bitch, of course you did."

"I got a man inside" Joe frowns, after they all just stand there, and Steve's face is a mask of stone "I was able to plant a bug in his office... Steve" he looks at his young friend "if I'd told you, you would have come barging in there, looking for blood. You did it once in Japan, and we lost him, I thought that by working slowly and covertly, we'll have a better chance."

"What did you hear?" Steve ignores the explanation "in his office, what was it that made you come here?"

"Look" Joe says, shaking his head at Steve's cold attitude "it was always apparent that he wanted to go back to Japan. His entire operation was there, his supporters, his connections, his family too. Once you showed up over there, and created havoc, sending the Japanese authorities after him, the Yakuza banned him from the country. His only chance in ever coming back was to show that he is 'risk free' and that the shame he brought on the organization is, well... satisfied."

"What did you hear?" Steve repeats slowly.

"I've heard a conversation between him and the Yakuza leaders in Osaka, discussing the terms of his return. He promised to pay a great sum as a compensation, promised to follow their leads in his business plans, and he promised to kill you and your family, as revenge."

/

/

"Chin" he looks at his partner "we need to complete the processing of the scene. I want all the information we can get on the explosive material, and connect it to local suspects or smugglers."

"No problem" Chin nods "I think Charlie should have it by now."

"Danny" he looks at his partner "the traffic cameras, we need the footages as soon as possible. K-Ko..." he coughs slightly to makes his throat work "Kono's idea about a second look out, and two vehicles. I want you to work under this assumption."

"Of course" he nods "already working on it. I'm waiting for the authorization."

"Joe" he looks at his old CO "do you have names? possible associates? people or organizations he could have used here on the island?"

"I have two." Joe says.

"Okay" Steve looks at the three of them "give the names to Chin, maybe he can link them to the explosives. Give me one minute, and then we'll go find them together."

/

/

He calls her mother from the land line in his office. He sits on at his desk, and holds the speaker so tight, his knuckles are white from the pressure. When she answers, after the sixth ring, he finds it suddenly too hard to speak. There's a long minute that passes after he hears her steady voice, when nobody says anything.

"Steven?" her mother asks carefully at last.

"Yes, hi" he tries to sound under control "look, I don't know if you've heard..."

"It's a small island, Steven" she tells him "of course I've heard. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine" he sighs, smiling a little "I'm... look, I don't think I'll have time to come and explain, and the phone is not... I just wanted to tell you that I have everything covered. I promise, nothing will ever..."

"I'm not worried" she cuts him midsentence, and she sounds like he's being ridiculous.

"You're not?" he smiles despite of his initial anxiousness "I... I don't really know what to say about that, actually." He laughs a bit amazed.

"There's no reason to be" she says gently "believe me. Steven, I know that you're scared, that you feel like your entire world just shattered around you." He wants to deny it, but can't, he's all chokes up with hearing her words "I know you always do what you think is right, but... there wasn't actually any..." she sighs and stops for a second "listen boy, just take care of yourself, and don't worry."

"I'll fix it" he tells her quietly, a little surprised by her calm reaction "I know what I'm doing."

"Yes, darling" she whispers, and this time he doesn't think she sounds so confident anymore "just really, Steven, don't worry."

/

/

Chin has two addresses for Joe's leads. One is in Oahu, a small local restaurant he finds quite familiar. It's the same place he went that time for Sushi, with Jenna, but was confronted by Wo Fat instead. The second one is in Chinatown. A pawn shop. He thinks he recognizes the name from an old case they were working on. They were looking for some gun smugglers at the time and found a lead there.

"Good work" he tells Chin "send me the details to Kono's phone, I'll be using it for now."

"Steve, are you sure it's safe for the both of you to just waltz in there?" Danny asks with concern "I mean, if they're watching the news, they know you'd survived and they'll still be looking for you."

"We'll be fine" he says as he makes a quick check on his gun, and buries an additional magazine in his pocket, while Joe does the same. "Call me with everything" he tells his teammates, before he leaves "we're ending this as soon as possible, and I don't care how."

"Steve..." Danny cries after them when they're already on their way out "Jeez, Chin" he mumbles towards his partner "he's still wounded."

"I know" Chin mumbles, not even looking up. He just keeps scanning the files frantically, the entire time.

/

/

They get into the restaurant and ask to speak to the manager. His name is Kaleo Jones. They are shown to the back of the restaurant, and climb the stairs to the second floor, to his office.

He doesn't bother with knocking, just opens the door and steps in. He finds Jones sitting at his desk, speaking on the phone. He looks up at them, and it's obvious he recognizes Steve immediately. He mumbles a few words to the speaker, and hangs up. Then he sits back, looking at them with a smile.

"Where is he?" Steve asks quietly.

"I have no idea who you're talking about" Kaleo Jones says, still with a smile.

Steve only looks at Joe, shakes his head and pulls out his gun.

"I'll give you two seconds" he informs him "then, I'm going to shoot you in the leg. After that, I'm going downstairs, put a few more rounds in the kitchen and in the dining room, above the heads of the guests there. Then I'm going to throw a smoke grenade in the room, and have the entire HPD here to close the area as a crime scene. Then I'll make a call to the state health department, and give them a tip about rodents, and have them go over the place, looking for all kinds of shit. I'm telling you, you'll be closed for centuries after this... My friend here" he indicates to Joe "will keep you company while I do it, and after I'm done, I'll be back and we both gonna shoot your other leg, and then your arms, and your shoulders, and your knee cups, slowly, one by one, until you tell me where I can find Wo Fat."

There's a scared, haunted look in the guy's eyes when he hears Steve calm and detailed description. "You're lying. You're a police officer you can't do it."

"I'm afraid you underestimate my talents, here" Steve tells him, arming his gun, and walking towards him slowly.

"You're lying" Kaleo Jones cries, cringing in his chair "I know who you are. I've heard about you, you're a good guy."

"He is" Joe nods from right next to him "a very good guy. Unfortunately for you, _I'm not_" he moves the desk aside violently, and shoots the man's leg.

/

/

He talks after that. He practically can't shut up. He lets Joe move him to the floor and the both of them stand above him, questioning him with their guns in their hands. He helped Wo Fat come back to the island. The restaurant imports spices and other products from the entire east, and he used this route to bring over Wo Fat with a small crew. He arrived with six men. Most of them Chinese, but a few Japanese too. He never saw him, just talked to him on the phone. He can give them the date and time, of the exact shipment they came in. The container was overlooked, after he managed to bribe one of the docks' supervisors. He got his payment straight to his bank account, and never heard from him since.

"What about cars? accommodations? what were their plans?" Steve asks, almost kicking the guy with frustration.

"I offered" Jones mumbles quietly "I told him I can help with the initial settling in, but he declined. He said it was all taken care of."

"I'm sending Chin and Danny to the docks" Steve tells Joe, pulling out Kono's phone "I want them to look there while we're checking the other lead."

"What about this scumbag?" Joe asks "we need to keep him under surveillance and probably, give him some basic medical attention."

"You are under arrest" Steve tells the guy on the floor, still scrolling down the numbers on Kono's phone "everything that you'll say... well, you know the rest" he shrugs "I'm calling the EMT, and then you're going with HPD. You'll be spending the night in jail. Joe, take his cell phone. I'll ask Milai to help with monitoring his land line too, and follow his bank accounts. I don't want to burden Chin with all this, now hat we're a man... well, a woman short."

He scrolls down the numbers, trying to find the priority police line to the EMT. Kono must have it somewhere, they all do. Hell, it's embarrassing to say, but half the time they call them is to take care of _him_... He finds it eventually, after going over almost the entire contacts list. He can't avoid the smile that appears on his lips when he sees that she listed it under "mom was right."

/

/

He calls Chin and Danny and explains about the docks. He gives them the time and date and the container number, and asks them to go check it out.

"Jeez, Steve" Danny says when he writes everything down "that's almost a month ago."

'I know" he nods seriously.

"If he was following you all that time..."

"I know" Steve says again, inhaling deeply.

"Steve... the kid was with you when he..." Danny says, but his partner cuts him off.

"Just go check it out, Danny. Try to find who picked them up. Joe and I are going to the second location. Please Danny, I want us to focus on what we have."

/

/

They wait for Milai and the rest of the HPD team, and when they get there, he walks over to the police cars and tries to think of a good way to explain the situation. Milai only has to look at him once, to save him the trouble. She sees his battered face, the way he moves, how his entire body is strained, due to the pain and the shock from this morning. She sees the fear behind his seemingly cold eyes, and she knows.

"Please tell me it wasn't you who pulled the trigger" she says when they walk towards the ambulance.

"It wasn't me" he says truthfully.

"Okay" she sighs, looking over at Joe who stands at the other side of the street, and talks to a few HPD officers "tell your friend to surrender his gun, and I'll let him go for now. I guess you'll vouch for him? promise me he won't leave the island?"

"I promise" he nods.

"Fine" she shakes her head in resignation "now tell me what you want me to do."

/

/

He explains everything to Milai's team. Explains about the role the restaurant played in his nemesis's return. He asks them to monitor Kaleo Jones's phones and e-mails, asks them to follow his bank transactions. He sees Milai's worried look, but he tries to push it away from his mind. He knows he sounds anxious, and hurried and desperate. He hopes, she's the only one who can tell. It takes a couple of hours, until they are ready to go with the sense that things will be taken care of. But when Joe follows him to the car, he can see that he's barely walking.

"You're in pain" Joe says when they sit in the car and a low moan escapes his lips.

"I'm fine" he grumbles "let's go."

"Steve, you look like you're going to drop in a few seconds. You need to rest, and probably eat something." He starts the engine, and backs the car to the main street, and drives to the beach.

"Where are you going?" Steve asks with annoyance "the pawn shop is in the other way."

"I'm taking you to eat, and to breathe the ocean for a few minutes. There's no point in going forward when you're on the verge of collapse."

"I told you I'm fine" Steve repeats, trying to shout, but his voice comes out weaker than he'd intended.

"We'll make it quick, son" Joe says gently "half an hour of a very, very late lunch on the beach. Trust me, it will only do you good."

He makes his way to the beach with no more objections after that. By the time they get there, Steve is already asleep in the passenger seat.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N**: Thank you for reading, favoring and following this fic. Especially thank you for commenting on it.

Please tell me what you think.

* * *

_He lies in bed, on his back, trying to negotiate an agreement with a three year old. Kono's and his three year old. He must be out of his mind to even try. _

_"No" he smiles to the pouting girl who sits on his stomach, crossing her hands on her chest and sticking out her lower lip determinedly. _

_"Yes" she announces, in what he has to admit is a very carefully made argument. It's no use. He's not falling for this one, he's stronger than that. He thinks... _

_"Moana," he says in the most authoritative voice he can master "I said no. End of discussion." _

_"Yes" she repeats, because it looks like he doesn't listen. She adds a little kick with her small heels to his sides to emphasize her point. _

_"Moana" he holds her up in the air above him "you can't eat pancakes every single day. It's not healthy. We're having fruit and yogurt today. You'll like it, I promise."_

_"I want pancakes" she shrieks when he leans her towards him trying to kiss her pout away. She kisses him back, automatically, but if he thinks his charms have any effect on her, he's mistaken. _

_"I want pancakes" she reminds him, the moment he lets her mouth go, just in case he forgot. _

_"You can't" he smiles lovingly, he's not the only one who can hold his ground in the face of resistance around here . _

_"Why?" she asks with obvious resentment. He sighs, he'd explained it four times already since they woke up. _

_"Because I'm the boss, and I said no" he says decisively, even though he's not sure if this statement is entirely true. _

_She looks at him with sad little eyes, and he puts her back down on his stomach, fearing the worst. He's right. The tears start to fall even before she looks up at him, completely heartbroken "I want mommy" she cries miserably. Yeah, well... he has to admit, he can totally see her point. _

_It takes him about fifteen minutes to get her to calm down. He kisses her and hugs her and whispers eternal promises in her ear. When she finally relaxes, lying on top of him, her head on his chest, and her small hand in his big one, it's already seven, and there's simply no time for another round. _

_/_

_They sit at the counter, after she gets her pancakes. Even though, he congratulates himself for actually managing to force her to put some fruit on them. When he notices she's throwing two strawberries, a pineapple slice and a half eaten apple on the floor, so Kai can eat them, he only shakes his head silently. The little brat, she's lucky she's so cute._

* * *

_/_

_/_

Danny and Chin are at the docks in less than an hour. Steve's information is correct. They have the container number, and the location. Finding the right security camera is not even a challenge after that. Chin has the data on his computer in less than thirty minutes. When they open the footages and see two black vans pull at the right place, exactly at the right time, they only have to zoom in on the few figures who run on the platform, to make the identification of Wo Fat.

Danny's own research from the morning is pretty much done at this point. He pulls the seven vehicles he'd registered from the traffic cameras on the highway next to the explosion. They try to compare the list to the two black vans, and after a few more minutes, they are able to do it. Kono was right, there were two vehicles up on the ridge, the two vans in the pictures were there. It's circumstantial, but it's a damn good start. They look at the newly discovered plate numbers, the only thing that's left is to go back to HQ to run it in the system. Chin looks at Danny with a satisfied nod. It's a small island, finding the cars is only a matter of time, now.

/

/

They enter HQ with a surge of energy. Danny is starting with the DMV database and Chin starts tries to work on the footages from the dock, with the facial recognition system. They think about calling Steve with the new information, especially in order to advise him of the number of guys they are looking for, but they suddenly stop, when they hear an unfamiliar sound in the room.

"What the hell is this?" Chin asks, as they both scan the room curiously.

"It sounds like a telephone ring" Danny says "I think it's coming from Steve's office. I think it might be his land line."

"I didn't realize _he had_ a land line..." Chin mumbles.

Danny is the first one in the office. "Five 0" he says as he picks up the receiver.

"Steve?" there's an unfamiliar voice on the other side of the line.

"It's Danny Williams, who's this?"

"Peter. Peter Berling" comes the answer "Steve's friend from the FBI? I was the one who sent the team to pick up his family a few hours ago."

"Peter, yes" Danny says, as he looks up at Chin with worried expression "what's up, man?"

"Well..." Peter starts "it might be nothing... I mean, it's still early. But..."

"Still early for what? What are you talking about?" Danny asks with trepidation.

"They didn't check in."

"Who didn't? What do you mean?"

"The team. They were on their way to Chicago with the girls. That was the protection plan. They're supposed to check in before they board a commercial flight, it's proper protocol, only... _they didn't_."

"Maybe they were pressed with time?" Danny suggests "it was all done very quickly, the schedule was... maybe they'll call when they get there?"

"It's a possibility" Peter agrees "this is why I said it was still early. But... I don't know. This specific team leader, he's one of our best men. He would... look, I know things are tense over there, and I don't want to make something out of what might only be a... _coordination issue_, but Steve is my friend, and this morning... I've never heard him that desperate before... I... I just wanted to give him the heads up."

"Thanks Peter" Danny says quietly, looking at Chin who tries to follow the conversation with gradually elevating panic level "I'll let him know. Don't worry about it. Just _call_ _me_ if you hear anything, would you?"

"Sure" Peter sighs "I'll be personally on it."

He disconnects the line, after they change telephone numbers, and he makes the guy swear he'll call _him _and not Steve with anything he hears. When he puts the receiver down, he looks up at his partner. There's no way to avoid it. "Sit down Chin" he tells him, shaking his head "I think we might have a problem."

/

/

"_What do you mean missing_?" Chin exclaims.

"Relax" Danny tries "it might be nothing..."

"An entire FBI security team, a three years old girl and two women... don't just _disappear_, Danny. Jeez, do you think...?"

"I don't think anything at this point" Danny tries to stop this unhealthy thinking "it's probably nothing, maybe they just..."

"He was following them. He must have seen them walking out of here." Chin shakes his head with mortification.

"Chin, listen. If he'd attacked and kidnapped them, we would have known by now. As you said, 6 FBI operatives, Kono too. Do you really think something like that would be done quietly?"

"You're right" Chin looks at him intently "we would have known by now... but... where are they, then?"

"One option, is that it's like Peter said. They were pressed with time, and will call when they land. The other option..." he looks at Chin with a frown.

"She wouldn't" Chin gasps "would she?"

"She's _your_ cousin" Danny raises his hands in surrender "and _his_ wife... and she's very persuasive... and these are _only_ 6 men against her..."

"I'm telling you brah" Chin buries his head in his hands "if she did it, and we'll ever get through this, and _he_ _wouldn't do it_, _I'll bloody well kill her myself_."

/

/

It's already quite late when Joe and Steve are storming back into HQ. They look angry. Steve looks pale and tired and his eyes are red. They went to the pawn shop, it was closed, so they broke in. When Danny opens his mouth to comment on this fact, there's enough threat in Steve's eyes to make him rethink it in time.

The shop was empty. Completely empty. No merchandise, no money, no papers. The shelves were meticulously cleared, even the electricity and the phone line were disconnected. "He's cleaning house" Steve slams his hands on the smart table, making everything shake with the impact "he knew we had information on this place. He took what he needed and cleared off."

"It doesn't matter, Steve" Danny says "we have other leads."

"You don't get it" Steve shouts, standing up and looking at him with burning eyes "they had guns there, grenades, ammunition."

"What are you saying?" Chin looks at him seriously "he's preparing for war?"

"I don't know" Steve shakes his head in despair "but... it really looks bad."

/

/

Danny is the one who puts him back in perspective. He opens Chin's lap top, and pulls out the photos of the cars and the black figures from the dock. They show him the number plates, and the digital searches they've been running on the databases. It actually makes him feel better. they can see the determined glint back in his eyes.

"This is awesome" he nods at them "we'll go after the owners, and look at the entire island traffic cameras. There's no way we'll miss them. Good job guys... Anything else I should know?"

Danny sends a warning glare towards Chin "no babe. Nothing more at this point."

"Good" he rubs his face tiredly. "So, how long is it going to take?"

"Oh no." Danny calls out "no, no, no. You're going to sleep now. You're hurt, you're tired, you're slightly more emotionally unstable than usual, and besides, _we all_ need to stay focused, so _we all_ need to go home and sleep."

"I'm..." he looks at him with bloodshot eyes "sure, you can go. I'll stay here. I'll just work a little with this... and I want to check the lab reports, and..."

Danny looks at him silently. The way his eyes are pinned to screen, following the changing images as the software works to find a match. He can see that in his right hand he holds Kono's phone tightly, his thumb absentmindedly rubbing the silent machine. He sighs loudly. Yeah, right. Like the guy is in any shape to stay alone tonight.

"Chin, I guess you should go home now. Joe, you have somewhere to stay, right?" the two men nod silently "I'll stay with you hear" he tells Steve "we each have our own couch in our offices. Hell, it would be just like after I got divorced."

/

/

It takes him ten whole minutes to tear him away from the smart table and push him towards the change room. He fights the urge to go inside with him, to make sure he's not toppling down and breaking his neck in the shower. With the way he looks so drained and inattentive, it's a bloody miracle that he finally steps out of there in one piece. He follows him around the office, forcing some water, and pain killers down his throat. He throws some leftovers from a few days ago he finds in the fridge, to the microwave, and watches him swallow it silently in the break room. He wonders if he should ask him how he feels, if they should talk about this morning or about Kono and Moana, or the explosion... but when Steve looks up at him, from behind his plate, he can see the pleading in his eyes, and it's enough to keep him quiet.

/

/

They prepare for the night, each in his own office. He can see Danny eyeing him with concern from over the glass wall. He is too tired to talk about anything, especially about what Danny probably thinks he should be talking about, so he tries to ignore it, and wonders how long will Danny be able to keep himself from expressing his opinion about all this mess. It's usually pretty hard for the guy to refrain from stating exactly what he thinks, he must be out of his depth with good will to avoid it for so long...

He steps into her office, to look for her phone charger. He sits in her chair, searching the drawers. When he moves his eyes on the desk, he suddenly sees the picture.

It's a picture of the three of them together, sitting on the beach, smiling at the camera. He remembers when they took it. It was the last time Mary Ann came to visit. She kept whining about the fact that she had no pictures of him in her apartment, and Kono took it upon herself to solve this apparently completely unacceptable situation. She made him sit in the sand, positioning herself between his legs, in what he imagines was her attempt to make sure he won't move. Then, she called out to Moana, and the girl came running and took her place in her mother's lap. He told her they can take the photo later, at home, that everybody is looking, that he doesn't think it's the right thing to do, you know, security wise. She told him he's being stupid, and when he tried to break free from under her, she even pinched his thigh. Then Moana, always her father's defender, said "mommy, it's not nice to say stupid" and they just laughed and kissed her, both at the same time. The girl shrieked with joy, and Kono's beautiful laugh echoed around them, taking his breath away, like always. At that precise moment, Mary Ann took the snap shot.

She made three copies. One for Mary Ann, one for her office and one for his. She framed them and they were beautiful, and he could see her smiling every time she looked at it, positioned on her desk. He kept his copy in the bottom of the lowest drawer possible. He explained that he didn't want criminals or unauthorized people to see his family, that it was a security and privacy matter, and she looked like she was buying it, even though he wasn't entirely sure. How could he explain that he couldn't look at them every morning, and know that there might be a chance, he won't make it home in one piece? How could he explain that when you spend half your life fighting behind enemy lines, you have to compartmentalize and push the people you love out of your mind, especially if you want to keep them safe, in case you're caught? How could he explain that seeing them happy and laughing, and _his _on that beach, was still so unbelievable to him, he still had recurrent nightmares about them being snatched away from him? Home was home, HQ was HQ. There she was his wife, the love of his life, here she was officer Kalakaua, a talented team member. He had to keep it like this, separated, protected, under control. He looks at the picture now. Who the hell was he kidding?

/

/

She opens the door, when he's still two yards away. He walks slowly, looking around him with suspicion. The neighborhood is deserted, the street lamps look dimmer than usual. He spots four cars parked in various strategic locations on the street, and behind the house.

"Aloha auntie" he says when he reaches the door. She only nods, smiling tightly "where is she?" he asks quietly. She lets him in silently, and closes the door behind him.

/

/

The morning is a new beginning. When Danny wakes up he finds Steve on the phone, arranging an assault team. "We have a name" he mouths to him, still on the phone with Duke. He's in his familiar operation mode, all focused and vibrant, he can see how the adrenalin rush is pushing him to ignore his still aching body. The facial recognition software identified one of the men in the footages from the dock as Timothy Rogan, a convicted felon in a few armed robberies in the last few years. His name actually popped out in their initial investigation into Wo Fat's operation, less than a year ago.

"Any connection to the cars?" Danny asks, looking at the DMV database.

"Both cars were rented a month ago, three days before Wo Fat's arrival on the island. Chin is checking to see if we can make a connection through the rental company, but it was done online, I'm quite sure it will be a dead end."

"So, you just want to storm Rogan's house?" Danny asks, scratching his face.

"Pretty much" Steve nods, as he pulls out his Kevlar vest "Joe is already in location, watching it while we get set with the SWAT team."

"I see" Danny looks at him thoughtfully.

"You have a better idea?" Steve looks at him irritated.

"Nope" Danny shakes his head "but you have to admit, it looks a bit too easy."

"You're right" Steve sighs, watching his partner "I know it does, but we have no other lead."

/

/

They drive in silence to the house. Each wrapped in his own thoughts. He looks at his partner, who's uncharacteristically sits shotgun, and sees him checking his gun repeatedly. He's been doing it constantly since the beginning of this case. Maybe it's the fact that he was caught unarmed and unprepared during his morning run, maybe is the fact that their team is broken, without Kono in her usual place. Maybe it's the fact that he, like Danny, can smell that they're heading towards a trap.

He pulls out his phone, and dials HPD number, and asks for the K-9 squad to meet them at the location. When Steve looks at him silently, he just shrugs "we've already had one explosion."

/

/

By the time they get there, the neighborhood had already been sealed by HPD and Joe had already spotted one of the black vans and a gray jeep at the back of the house. He walks straight to the SWAT team leader, and shakes his hand. They've worked together in the past. It's hard to say that they're _friends_, but in the course of the last few years, they had earned each other's respect. They use the thermal imaging equipment to determine the number of hostiles in the building, and Danny explains about his suspicion that explosives might be involved. They decide on breaching in from the main entrance, and send the K-9 squad in, after the leading force. It's a heavy approach, different than their usual MO. But it's a heavy case, when Danny looks at his team leader, he realizes he'd already released all the breaks at this point.

/

/

They storm the building according to urban warfare tactics. They ram the front door, and spread around the first level working in two separate lines. They find three hostiles in the living room and in the kitchen, and they manage to secure them with hardly any resistance, declaring the first floor as cleared in a few minutes. He leads the second assault team to the second level, climbing the stairs slowly, expecting anything. When they reach the intermediate landing, and he makes the movement to cross to the opposite wall, there's a burst of automatic gunfire that hits him right in the chest. It takes him two seconds to catch his breath. By this time, Danny and Chin and another SWAT team operative are returning fire, and making their way past him. "Are you Okay, babe?" Danny shouts over his shoulder, he only grunts affirmatively in response. He curses himself for his weakness, his entire body shaking with pain, but he manages to climb up the stairs, and join them as they shoot back towards two men with automatic weapons, and to see them disappear in one of the rooms. "Hold your fire" he shouts, trying to regain control on the situation. "Everybody, quiet" he orders "which room is it?" he asks Chin.

"I think it's the bathroom."

"Good" he grumbles "small window then" he pulls a smoke grenade from his pocket. When Danny raises his eyebrow towards him, he pulls a second one. "Talk to them" he whispers to Danny, make a conversation, you're good at that."

"You're funny, Steven" Danny hisses angrily "Listen guys" he shouts "we can stay here all day. My schedule is free. I'm hourly, I don't care how long it's going to take. I can get takeout and watch TV, I can stay here for weeks." He sees Steve laying down his gun, and crawls slowly on the floor towards the door "we already have your three friends downstairs" he continues "they can answer all our questions, we don't even need you, anymore."

Steve looks back at him, and signals 'five' with his hand.

"You know what? The hell with it" Danny shouts, raising his gun, as Chin and the rest of the operatives do the same "it's a waste of time" Danny shouts "I'm going to count to five. Then we'll start shooting. We're not even going to try to catch you alive."

/

/

After Danny counts to five, they all start shooting at the ceiling. The noise is unbearable, but he's close enough to hear the two men standing next to the door, and cocking their guns. When they open the door, to return fire, he throws the smoke grenades in there, and they are so close, they're effectively blind. He pulls at their legs, and they both fall on the ground coughing and choking, and he can hardly breathe himself... Chin who comes from behind him, and slugs one of them, gives him time to gain control over the second one.

/

/

They leave it for the SWAT team to carry the choked up suspects down the stairs, as both of them pull him towards the window in the next room, in an effort to help him breathe. He looks gray, and he's sweating like crazy, and when Chin opens his Kevlar and takes a look at his chest he sees the marks of three wide caliber bullets on his skin. Danny forces some water down his throat, and on his face, and he still can't speak, so they take the opportunity to express their very explicit point of view on his physical state. They are just in the middle of lecturing him, when they hear the dogs start to bark on the first level, and the desperate cry of the SWAT team leader for everyone to get out.

/

/

They carry him down the stairs between them trying to reach the door in time. He's heavy, and every movement makes him gasp with pain, but the fuck if they care. They can see from the window how all the rest of the operatives take cover behind the SWAT team's armored truck, and it looks like they can still make it, when they feel like the air is suddenly sucked out of them, as the entire house explodes around them and the three of them are sent flying on the wall.

* * *

I know that it was more of a Steve/Danny chapter. But don't worry. This is still a McKono fic. Kono will be back next chapter. I Promise. Don't forget to tell me what you think.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N**: Thank you for reading, favoring and following this fic. Especially thank you for commenting on it, this is so greatly appreciated, really.

Sorry for the long time it took me to update this time. I had too much work recently... anyway, I'm back now to the usual update frequency. Please tell me what you think.

* * *

_"Again" she tells him, when he gets up off the floor. _

_"Again?" he smiles at her "I've already told you the story three times tonight." _

_"Again" she insists, sitting up._

_"Moana, it's late, you have to go to sleep. I'll tell you again tomorrow, Okay?"_

_"One more time" she pleads, holding his hand desperately. It's the same thing every night. She tries to keep him with her for as long as she can. _

_"Okay, baby" he sighs, "I'll tell you again. But I want you to lie down, close your eyes and try to sleep. I'll stay here in the room, until you fall asleep, I promise." _

_"Kay" she agrees, as she lies back down. He can see how she tries to keep her little eyes closed, forcefully squinting them, and putting her little hands on her face, but she can't resist the urge to look at him, to make sure he's still there, and he can see her peeking from behind her fingers from time to time. _

_"You want to hold my hand?" he offers, trying not to laugh at her childish innocence. _

_"Mmmhhmmm" she nods enthusiastically, sending her small hand to capture his finger. He sits back on the floor, his other hand stroking her soft brown hair. _

_"Okay" he says quietly "one more time, the story about how mommy learned how to surf. So..." he begins, "when mommy was a small girl." _

_"Like me" the girl says happily._

_"Yes. A small beautiful girl like you" he agrees "so, when mommy was little, she used to go everywhere with uncle Chin."  
"Mmmmhhmmm" Moana nods, making him smile again. _

_"She followed him everywhere, all the time. When he was playing with his friends, and with their other cousins..."_

_"When he went fishing..." Moana sings, remembering the story by heart. _

_"Yes, and when he was playing football."_

_"And when he was playing with uncle Danny..." _

_"Yes, and... well" he stops "actually no. Uncle Danny has nothing to do with this." _

_"And uncle Danny, and daddy..." the girl ignores his pathetic attempt to be chronologically accurate._

_"Fine" he sighs "when he was playing with... everybody we know even if they were on the other side of the planet. That's fine." _

_"And surfing" she adds. _

_"Yeah, and surfing" Steve nods "especially when he went surfing. Everybody told her she was too little to surf, and tutu even said it was dangerous, and told uncle Chin not to lend mommy his board." _

_"Because she was a baby" Moana explains seriously. _

_"Well" Steve says thoughtfully "she was a little bit bigger than a baby." _

_"She was a baby" Moana insists. _

_"Fine" he surrenders "she was a small, cute little baby. But Chin wanted to make her happy, so when nobody saw, he taught her how to surf, and little by little she got better and better." _

_"Even better than uncle Chin" Moana says in awe. _

_"Well" Steve smiles at what seems like her inherited admiration to everything which is Chin ho Kelly, "actually uncle Chin didn't like surfing very much, he really liked fishing more than anything, so it doesn't really count if she... anyway, after a while she was surfing really well. And to her twelfth birthday she even got a really big professional surf board."_

_"From tutu" the child tells him excitedly. _

_"Yeah" he smiles "tutu saw how serious she was and how hard she worked, so she bought her a really nice red board, which she really loved." _

_"And one day..." Moana gasps with amazement. _

_"One day, when she was surfing in front of the big marina, Ian saw her, and he was very impressed." _

_"He said she's the best surfing girl in the whole world." Moana moves her little arms to show him the extent of her mother's talent. He couldn't agree more, smiling back at her before he reminds her to close her eyes again. _

_"He told her that if she joins his surfing club she could go to all sort of surfing competitions, around the world." He continues quietly "and she did, and she surfed for a few years there, and she got a lot of medals and trophies, because she was really really good, like he said." _

_"Because she was the best" Moana mumbles sleepily. _

_"Yes" he whispers "the best in the entire world..." _

_There's quiet after that, but he still sits on the floor, holding her hand, and stroking her hair gently. He listens to the slow rhythm of her breaths, and when he's absolutely sure she's asleep, he stands up silently, kisses her head in the dark and walks out of the room. _

_/_

_It's three hours later, when he's in his and Kono's bed, sleeping, that he hears a quiet movement in the room, and wakes up in alarm. He raises his head sharply, and is just about to reach for his gun, when he sees his little girl standing next to him, with tears in her eyes._

_"Baby, what's the matter?" he gathers her into his arms, stroking her hair "are you alright? did you have another bad dream?"_

_"I want mommy" she cries, breaking his heart again. _

_"I know, sweetie" he kisses her head and rocks her slowly "I miss mommy, too." _

_"I want to sleep with you" she sniffles, holding him around his neck. _

_He's pretty sure it's bad parenting, but there's not a force in the universe which would make him say no. _

* * *

A second later and it would have ended completely different. The fact that they were still climbing down the staircase, shielded by the strongest walls of the construction probably saved their lives. When there's quiet again, and they're able to raise their heads, and shake the dust and debris from their hair, they look at each other silently, and sigh in relief.

"Steve!?, Steve!?" they hear Joe's frantic cry from outside "guys, can you hear me?"

"We're alright" Danny shouts back towards the door. But when he looks down at his partner, he sees him lying exhaustingly on the ground, tormented with pain and fighting to breathe.

/

/

He refuses to go to the hospital. Of course he does. He sits in the back of the ambulance, holding an oxygen mask to his face, letting the medics listen to his lungs and look at his multiple bruises, as he listens to the preliminary analysis of the scene.

"A remotely controlled detonator" Charlie tells him "it's still early to say anything about the material itself, but judging by the pattern of the explosion, and the wires I found at the center of destruction, it looks similar to the charge in your truck."

"A remote control?" Joe asks "so the timing was intentional?"

"It fits the findings" Charlie shrugs "and besides, you said it was just them three in the building when it happened" he states the obvious.

"Somebody was looking?" Joe looks around him "why would they look at their own hideout? our movements were quick, I was here in the scene an hour and a half before the SWAT team arrived, it was a surprise attack and I didn't see anything around the house..."

"Unless you were followed" Danny says "unless they saw you coming to the house and assumed something is about to go down."

"I wasn't followed, Danny." Joe says decisively "I'm using a rental, I've slept in a motel, I know how to move on this island without being noticed."

"It was a trap" Steve says from his position on the gurney, his entire body shaking with pain, his voice hoarse, and they can see how much effort he makes, just to be able to speak "Danny, you said it yourself, it was way too easy, and if we're talking about a lookout and a remotely detonated explosion... it's the exact same MO Kono identified earlier, in the first scene."

"I'll run a perimeter check, and pull the cameras' footages again" Chin sighs "we actually have a description of the second van now, so maybe it will be easier this time."

"Joe" Steve says, still sounding a little breathless "we have to question the men from the house, you and I will..."

"You and him will go nowhere" Danny informs him "Joe and _I_ will interrogate the men from the house, while you go check yourself into the hospital."

"Danny, I'm fine..." he starts to argue.

"You're delusional, babe" Danny shakes his head, pulling his phone out "even more than usual, which is quite impressive, if you ask me."

"Danny, it's just a few bruises, a regular blunt trauma, nothing I can't handle... Daniel" he asks in concern when he sees him dialing "who are you calling to?"

"I'm calling Milai. I want her to organize a security detail for you in the hospital."

"Do you really think Wo Fat will try something there?" Chin asks in alarm.

"No..." Danny drawls "but I certainly think Steve will..."

/

/

He spends a few hours in the ED, going under chest x-rays, abdominal ultrasounds, blood tests and orthopedic evaluations. There's nothing which can be considered _life threatening_ at this point, a fact he keeps throwing back at _every single_ nurse and doctor who approaches him, in a gradually elevating level of frustration. He lies on the bed, surrounded by eight HPD cops who Miali threatened to kill in her own bare hands should they move their eyes off of him, getting irritated and angrier by the second.

When a nurse tries to make him sleep and tries to take Kono's phone away from him, it's only the quick movement of one of the HPD cops, which prevents him from strangling the guy to death right then and there. The cop is very effective, keeping him restrained forcefully to the bed, making it impossible for him to do more than just send murderous looks towards the extremely lucky nurse. He uses the phone to constantly call Chin and Danny, and ask them about their progress with the investigation. It's not getting him anywhere though, when Chin hangs up on him _the third time_ in ten minutes, he has a sneaking suspicion the guys don't appreciate this type of micromanagement on his part.

It's that big military nurse from the day before, who changes everything at the end. She arrives shortly after his last _collision_ with the medical staff, and stands above him, looking at him pointedly with clear disappointment in her eyes. She asks quietly if he's ready for some pain medications, and for antiemetic regimen and if he'll be a good boy and get some sleep _now_, or is he expecting her to use force and tie his sorry ass to the bed, and knock him out with sedatives. He takes one look at her and assesses she's determined enough to mean what she's saying, so he just nods, closes his eyes and gives up.

/

/

When he sees the media storming the scene he goes straight to Danny. It's a small island, and news travel fast. The image of an ambulance rushing to the hospital with the Five 0 big Kahuna, is not something he wants his cousin to see first on the breaking news broadcast. He leaves the rest of the electronic surveillance to Charlie, and whispers to Danny that he has to go do some _damage control_ back home. Kono was already stupid enough to refuse to cooperate with Steve's initial protection plan, if she'd find out he's in the hospital, _again_, he has little doubt she'll rush over there, throwing the remains of her caution to the wind.

He gets to his aunt's house not a moment too soon. After ditching the car at the end of the street, and going the rest of the way by foot, he gets in from the back door, using his key, and makes his way to the basement. He steps in right in the middle of an argument between Kono and the FBI team's leader.

"I'm going, Bruno. He might be hurt really bad. You don't know him, he really has to be half dead to let them take him to the hospital without a proper fight."

"Ms. Kalakaua, I'm sorry" the FBI operative shows remarkable resilience against her pleadings "I've already agreed to break protocol by letting you stay on this island, because you made a compelling argument about yours and your daughter's appearance that will be _quite distinctive_ in Chicago. I've already agreed to include your family members in the protection plan even though I have no idea who they are, just because you promised they know the island and are extremely loyal, and above all, I've already put my ass on the line when I didn't report back to my commanding officer, after breaking every single rule in the rules book. This is my limit. We've already discussed it, this is our _safety zone_, I _will not_ let you out of here, even if it means I'll have to cuff you to the wall."

"He's hurt, he's all alone there. Please, Bruno, if it was your wife..."

"If it was my wife, I would do exactly what you're doing right now" he informs her frankly "I can see where you're coming from, believe me. But you're not getting out of here, Ms. Kalakaua, you'll have to go through me first."

"Well, don't you think that I won't" she steps towards him, glaring at him furiously "I'm a trained professional, you can't just dismiss me like a..."

"Uncle Chin" the little girl's cry cuts the discussion short "mommy look, it's uncle Chin."

He gathers the child who runs towards him in his arms, and picks her up, holding her against him, looking at Kono who watches him in sheer terror, with tears in her eyes, and her hand over her mouth.

"No, no..." he says quickly "it's not what you think... he's fine... I swear, cuz. He's fine."

/

/

He sits with Kono and Mary Ann in the basement, the three of them watching Moana playing checkers with one of the FBI operatives.

"She thinks she's on vacation" Mary Ann laughs "she thinks the whole team is here just to entertain her. She follows them around the place the entire day, asking them questions and talking nonstop about the ocean and about Hawaii. One of the guys made the crucial mistake and mentioned he was from another state, so she feels obligated to teach him everything she can about the island."

"She follows them around because they're all tall and big, and carry guns and they remind her of Steve" Kono says quietly, looking at her daughter who is in the middle of an animated discussion with the FBI operative concerning the location of one of the checkers pieces on the board.

"She looks happy" Chin smiles "you're keeping her safe and surrounded by her family" he smiles at Kono "it will be over soon, and she wouldn't even know something was wrong."

"She can't fall asleep" Kono shrugs "she needs me around her all the time. It's like in all those times he goes on his SEAL's training. She misses him so bad..."

"We all do..." Mary Ann whispers, holding Kono's hand and laying her head on her shoulder.

"How is he, Chin?" they both look at him with concern in their eyes "it must be hard for him... and don't tell me he's fine, because I know he's hurt."

"He's a little banged up" Chin sighs "but there's nothing serious. Really. Danny is all over his case, he was the one who forced him to get checked in the hospital, and get some rest. Trust me, with Danny's determination, He's being very well cared for."

"Did you tell him...?" Kono whispers.

"No" Chin shakes his head "only Danny and I know the three of you are here and not where he sent you to. We thought it would be best to have him believe you are far from danger, he's... look cuz, you know I think it was a crazy stunt you pulled here, and you know that I'm angry, but... I won't tell him, Kono. It wouldn't help anyone."

"I can't stand not knowing, Chin" Kono says seriously "I can't stand not knowing where he is, and how things are going, not being able to help him, to be there for him..."

"I thought you'd might have a problem with this" Chin smiles "this is why I got you a present" he pulls out a small black cell phone "it's a burner, it's untraceable. A complete clone of your own phone I got from Charlie. After Steve's phone was lost in the first explosion, and he'd practically _confiscated_ yours, I meant to give it to him in case your phone would be compromised. He refused to take it, he was holding on to your phone as if it was _his only life line_." He looks steadily at Kono, when he says it, and they both think about the last couple of days, and about Steve's forced separation from his family. They suddenly realize the small piece of plastic is exactly that..."you can use it" he tells her after a few seconds "you can call Danny and me without being traced, and on top of this, if Steve answers a call, you can see the caller ID, too. You'll have an idea what's going on, and you'll have a way to keep in touch."

"Thanks Chin" she holds the phone to her chest, looking at her cousin gratefully "this is great. I owe you."

"You bet your life you do" he scoffs "and when this mess is all over, and you're back home and at work, and when Steve realizes I helped you hide in your mother's house against his _specific instructions_, I want you to remember that."

/

/

"Are you ready?" Danny asks Joe when they stand outside the interrogations room where the first captive is sitting on a chair.

"Ready" Joe nods "and the guy should be ready too. None of the captives were processed yet. No lawyers, no finger prints, no mug shots. They were just brought downstairs and locked up, without hearing a single word from the cops, like you ordered."

"Good" Danny says with satisfaction "so we go forward with my plan, then. Remember Joe, it's _I_ who's in charge of this interrogation, not Steve. The objective here is to keep everyone alive and in a relative state of physical wellness by the end of it."

"It's not going to be easy" Joe shrugs looking at their suspect, folding his arms on his chest, in a well practiced aggressive manner. By the way Danny looks at him worriedly, it's obvious he has little faith in their chance to do that, as well.

/

/

They enter the room and Danny takes a seat in front of Timothy Rogan, while Joe takes position against the wall, right behind him. They just stay there, saying nothing, looking at him intently. They remain like this, in suffocating silence _for ages, _seeing Rogan's agitation increasing gradually, for about twenty minutes, they can see how he starts to move nervously on his chair, having no clue what they're doing. He looks back at Joe, who only nods at him silently, then back at Danny, who just smiles kindly towards him. Both men still say nothing. It's pretty crazy, and all three know it.

"What are you waiting for?" he asks eventually "aren't you supposed to ask me questions?"

"This is not an interrogation" Danny says simply, before he falls silent again.

"Hey man, what's going on?" Rogan asks after a few more minutes when nothing changes.

"We're waiting" Danny informs him.

"For what?" Rogan asks, and they can hear the fear in his voice.

"Well..." Danny shrugs "we at least have _to look _like we're trying, aren't we?"

"Trying? trying to do what?"

"To interrogate you, obviously. He's not the sharpest tool in the tool shed now is he?" he shakes his head towards Joe. Joe only shrugs in resignation.

"Aren't you going to ask me questions?" Rogan asks cautiously, again.

"Nope" Danny shrugs, looking at his fingernails with weird fascination "we have everything we need. We're fine."

"What do you mean?" Rogan asks curiously.

"We have all the information we need" Danny repeats "we caught the other team, the one responsible for the explosion. They were captured red handed by HPD, on the premises, and they gave us all the leads we need to catch Wo Fat. _Your team_ is redundant at this point."

"You're lying" Rogan spits hurriedly "there's no way..."

"We didn't even process you into the system" Danny shrugs "you don't worth the paperwork, believe me."

"What..." Rogan looks at him apprehensively "what are you planning to do with us, then?"

"I'm planning to stay with you in the room for... about forty minutes, enough to make sure that it looks like I've tried to question you. I'm going to tell the chiefs you refused to cooperate, and that you tried to escape, so I had to shoot you."

"You're..." he look at him in alarm, and turns around towards Joe.

"I don't need you, you see?" Danny fakes a yawn, and stretches his legs forward, putting his hands behind his head "and you tried to _kill my partner_. _Twice_. So, I'm more interested in _payback_ than in anything else. Your name, your identity... I can always say it was lost in the heat of the moment, that you were resisting arrest, threatening to kill another law enforcement officer, and that I had no choice. I'll have to write a three pages long report about the incident, so they'll have something to bury in the archive, but it's pretty easy. Certainly worth the tremendous joy I'll have from making the world a better place, without you in it..."

"You're lying" he cries "you're a cop. You can't just shoot people..."

"_He is a cop_" Joe says from behind him, arming his gun, next to Rogan's ear "a very busy cop. Who already spent more than thirty minutes in this stupid room, when he's supposed to go pick up your boss and throw his ass in jail. Where do you want it?" he suddenly pulls the chair from under him, making him crash on the floor in a state of pure shock "chest, or head?"

"Wait, wait" Rogan shouts "I have more information. You should hear what I have to say, I know where the guy hides, I can give you the vehicles, the contact information. Please, please..." he screams when Joe points the gun to his forehead "hear me out, nobody knows about him more than I do, you have to hear me out, please, don't kill me."

Joe looks at Danny questioningly, as the blonde detective seems to be seriously thinking about Rogan's desperate offer.

"Okay" Danny sighs eventually "I'll give you five minutes to spill everything, but if your information will be different by a _single detail_, or if there'll be one piece of information I think you're _holding back_, I'll be wiping your brain from the opposite wall a second later. Are we clear about that?"

"Yes, sir" Rogan promises quickly. Then he starts talking.

/

/

It's hours and hours later when he wakes up in the hospital bed after sleeping, but still exhausted. The pain is still there, dull, in his muscles, but he knows from experience that it'll get better once he gets himself up and moving. The HPD cops are still in position. Three around his bed, two at the door and three out in the corridor. He looks at his watch, and tries to figure out if now will be a good time to try and call Chin and Danny again, but before he has a chance to reach for his phone that lies on the nightstand, the phone starts ringing.

"That's weird" the cop who sits in the armchair next to the nightstand looks at the phone curiously.

"What is?" he asks, and he has that weird feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"The caller's ID, it says _McGarrett_."

"It's my wife's way to annoy me" he smiles in recognition "we've been married for four years and she _still_ has me listed under my surname."

"Why would _you_ call _yourself_ then?" the cop asks in suspicion. He sits bolt upright in the bed, despite the excruciating pain in his chest when he does it, realizing what the guy is saying. His phone was blown up, after he left it in the truck before the explosion... unless..."

"McGarrett" he answers, after he grabs the phone from the nightstand, feeling the cold icy grip of fear around his spine, when he imagines the person who's calling him.

"You know what I want" he hears Wo Fat's voice on the other side of the line.

"I'll kill you, Fat. I'll tear your heart out and bury you in the ground. When I'm done with you, nobody will..."

"Steve, Steve..." he can hear Wo Fat's laughter "you're in no position to make threats. I'm getting closer, and you know it."

"What do you want?" he asks, his voice cold with hatred.

"I'm giving you an option."

"I'm listening."

"This thing is between you and me" he says quietly "you know what I have to do. If you'll make it easier for me, I'll let you keep your family and friends safe."

"You shouldn't worry about my family and friends. They're safe enough" he says pointedly, but he feels the bitter taste of paranoia filling his mouth when he hears Wo Fat's mentioning his loved ones.

"Are you sure, Steve?" he asks nonchalantly "are you absolutely sure your beautiful wife, your sweet little daughter, and your sisters are protected?"

"You can't touch them" he says firmly, his heart beating fast, and he can feel the cold sweat accumulates on his back.

"What about detective Williams, and _his_ family? Chin ho Kelly? the entire Kalakaua family... ? can you make sure they are beyond my reach?"

"What do you want?" Steve holds the phone forcefully against his ear, trying to hide his anxiety.

"A meeting."

"You must be crazy."

"Open the TV" he tells him dryly "I'll call again" then he hangs up.

/

/

He turns on the TV on and flips the channels until he gets to the news. There's a special coverage of the morning's explosion, but there's no details, only some long distance images from the scene, and the usual chatter of the news teams when they have no information to report. Duke seems to be keeping the situation well contained, talking carefully to the reporters, making vague assessments and answering questions reassuringly. He moves from channel to channel anxiously, waiting for something to resonate with Wo Fat's words. When a breaking news broadcast of an explosion in a suburban neighborhood appears on the screen, and the frantic movement of the camera reveals the image of Danny's street he think he just got the message.

When the phone rings again he answers it in the bathroom. He gets up of the bed, making sure the cops are still preoccupied with the TV broadcast, and disappears in the small chamber, waiting for the call. When Wo Fat's voice is heard again, explaining that the next explosion will be in Danny's house, and not in his neighbors' vacant apartment, and asks for a meeting again, he agrees immediately, listening carefully to the guy's instructions.

/

/

He Bangs on the door of the bathroom forcefully, three times. The three cops barges through the door right after that, coming for his aid. He pulls the first cop's gun and pulls him inside the small room. When they rush after him, he pulls in the other two, as well. He points his gun towards them, apologizing repeatedly when he makes them sit on the floor and cuff themselves to one another. He asks them where the police cars are parked, and shoves towels into their mouths, with apparent regret. Then he closes the door on them, and puts on his clothes and his shoes. He takes the sheet off the bed, and folds it neatly, shaping it into a thin rope. He takes a deep breath, as he stands behind the door to the hospital room, before he just opens it swiftly, and makes a run for it.

It takes the other cops a few seconds to realize what he's doing, and to run after him. He knows this floor very well, after his frequent visits there, so he makes his way straight to the stairs, pulling the heavy door closed behind him. He uses the bed sheet to tie it to the wall, practically sealing the exit completely. It gives him enough time to lose his protection detail behind, and get out of the building.

/

/

He finds the police car in the parking lot. He uses the key he took from the cops, to start the engine before he pulls out of the parking lot with the siren on. He exits the hospital, and turns on the H1 towards Ewa, flooring the gas pedal. He looks at Kono's phone that is thrown in his lap, wondering if he should call Danny to let him know where he's going.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N1**: Thank you for reading, favoring and following this fic. Especially thank you for commenting on it. I really appreciate every single one of you who took the time to write to me. You made me very happy. It's a pleasure to write for you guys. This chapter is a little shorter than the previous chapters, but there's a reason for it.

Please tell me what you think. R.

* * *

/

_He wakes up when he hears a soft sound coming from the bedroom door. He raises his head sharply and looks around him. Moana is sleeping soundly beside him, tangled in the sheets. He thinks about trying to release her from the mess she'd made, but he's too afraid to wake her up. He looks at her sweet serious expression, and tries to move her long brown hair gently away from her pretty face. He should really get a hang of this whole pony tail thing, he thinks to himself. _

_He spends a few more minutes lying beside her, listening to her breaths, admiring her beauty and the uncanny resemblance she carries to her mother. When he suddenly remembers there was something that actually woke him up, he moves away from the bed, and walks out. _

_He walks down to the living room, to find Mary Ann sitting there, watching TV on mute. He doesn't say anything, just crashes on the sofa beside her tiredly. _

_"I'm sorry" she says quietly "I didn't mean to wake you. I just... I went to check on her, but she wasn't in her bed so I got nervous..."_

_"It's fine" he shrugs "it's hard to sleep anyway." _

_"Bad dreams?" she looks at him with concern, leaning a little against him. _

_"Always" he laughs bitterly "earlier I dreamt about her funeral again..."_

_"Oh god, Steve" she looks at him mortified "why would you even.. Steve" she whispers "maybe you should to talk to someone... I mean, you're so stressed..." _

_"The dreams are nothing" he dismisses "I'm used to having bad dreams. It's Moana, who keeps me awake, actually. I'm telling you the kid is like a little torpedo." _

_"Torpedo?" Mary Ann laughs quietly. _

_"Yeah" he smiles "she keeps hogging the covers, and I'm waking up freezing to death, and she kicks me!" _

_"Kicks you?" Mary Ann looks at him incredulously "she weighs what? thirty pounds? you have at least 150-160 pounds on her, and you complain about domestic violence?" _

_"She has her mother's good aim" he grumbles "she doesn't need force if she's targeting strategically vulnerable areas..." _

_"God I love this kid" Mary Ann laughs openly "she's got you wrapped around her little finger. She plays you even better than Kono does ..." _

_He looks at her somewhat insulted, but when she keeps laughing at him he has to smile too. When she's starting to make too much noise, and he starts to worry the little girl would wake up, he's all over her, trying to cover her mouth with his hand. She fights him off, and he pulls at her wrists, and there's this little silent battle that ensues suddenly, and he can't help but think about their fights during their stolen childhood... he's a bit overwhelmed with the strength of emotion that floods him suddenly, especially when he thinks about his own little girl's childhood, that he stops fighting and she manages to push him back on the sofa, and practically sit on him. And... when she looks, he's not laughing anymore, just leaning back on the sofa, and when she sees his eyes well up with tears, she doesn't laugh anymore either, she grabs his shoulders, and holds him against her, and strokes his hair silently, and lets him breathe his sorrow away wordlessly. It takes a few more minutes, until they can sit up again, side by side, and he looks like he's back in control, but she still holds his hand in her lap. She can't help it, she's still worried. _

_"It's..." he says a few minutes later when he stands up and starts towards the staircase "it's good to have you here, Mare..." _

_"Of course it is" she smiles, looking at the TV and not at him "I'm awesome, and besides... where else would I be?" _

_/_

* * *

/

"_What the hell are you doing?!_" Danny's cry comes out the second the guy picks up the phone. Great, he thinks to himself, the cops already told him. He tried to call him _three fucking times_, but the line was constantly busy. When his partner finally answers, there's little time to explain.

"I need you to sit on my signal" he orders "I need you to follow me and come after me from a safe distance."

"Steve..." Danny starts, but he doesn't let him finish.

"I'm going to meet Wo Fat" he says quickly before the guy will have time to react "look Danny, there's no other way, the guy is getting closer and closer, I can't put you all in such risk."

"Listen, babe" Danny's voice is changed into that calming restraining one he always uses when things are getting out of control "we have good information, _we can find him_, you don't have to do it... you're not thinking straight."

"Danny..." he tries to say it calmly "I have to end this _now_, and besides, I'm not going alone. You're going to follow me."

"Fine" Danny sighs at last, saying it in a tone that suggests absolutely _nothing is fine_ "where are you going?"

"I don't know" he tells him honestly, looking at the rearview mirror "he told me to drive towards Ewa. I'm on the H1 heading east. I'm driving a police car number BFD 1119. I have my blue lights on, and I'm talking to you on Kono's phone."

"Chin" he can hear Danny's shout to their partner "I need you to triangulate Kono's cell phone and locate a stolen police car. I've got the number."

"Stolen? Who stole it?" Chin's question is heard from the distance.

"Who do you think?" comes Danny's irritated reply "where are you going from Ewa?"

"I have no idea" he tells him "he'll call me later with further instructions."

"Wait up" Danny tells him and he can hear him switching the phone to mute. He waits for a few very long minutes, before Danny is back on the line "we have an idea" Danny tells him reassuringly "we have a few locations that we think he might be using as safe houses. Listen Steve, drive slower. Make it..."

"42 miles per hour" Chin's words are heard in the background.

"Keep it around 40, and we'll catch up with you."

"Okay" he agrees, and releases his foot from the gas pedal a little bit.

"Look, Steve" Danny explains "I'd prefer to be waiting for you in the right location, rather than chasing you around the island. We'll do a three points engagement tracking. Joe will be waiting at the H1 and Kualakai Parkway intersection, to see if he takes you off the main road. He's already on his way, you should see him in about twenty minutes. Red car, on the right shoulder. Milai is on the line with Chin now, she'll send an undercover team to the Farrington highway, they'll be... Chin?"

"Telephone company" comes the reply "white van."

"Telephone company, got it" he tells Danny.

"We have two potential locations around there, that we got from Rogan's interrogation" Danny explains quietly "one in Ewa and one in Kapolei."

"Danny, if he knows we have Rogan... this information might not be accurate anymore."

"I know" Danny agrees "but with this time constraint, we have to use what we have. After you pass Joe, he'll move towards Ewa, while Chin and I will go to Kapolei. If he's there, we'll catch him. As you said, _it ends now_."

"Why Kapolei?" Steve asks curiously "why do you think it's the more obvious place?"

"A hunch" comes the reply.

"Okay" Steve nods, smiling to himself "that's good enough for me."

/

/

He hangs up the phone and looks at his _two_ teammates.

"_You are out of your mind!_" he informs her, shaking his head "you've completely ruined it for me."

"Ruined... ruined what...?" she looks at him with confusion.

"It's the first time that he's actually acting reasonably, and calls for back up instead of jumping head first into danger and certain death. So obviously, instead of _celebrating_ this remarkable progress, I have to handle _you_ and _your own insane insubordination_!"

"It wasn't an insubordination" she glares at him "he made the wrong call when he sent me away. Did you honestly expect me to..."

"No" he sighs "I actually didn't. When Peter called and told us you're missing, I wasn't even surprised. I guess you gave her Charlie's phone...?" he looks accusingly at Chin.

"I did" Chin shakes his head with guilt "I... I thought it was safe."

"Well, I guess if _I_ had a clone of Steve's phone, and if_ I_ would have realized that he's going to meet Wo Fat _alone_, I'd come out of hiding too" he smiles towards her, and moves behind the desk to where she stands quietly "it's good to see you babe" he hugs her "where did you leave my little girl?"

"She's at my mom's house with mom and Mary Ann, and five FBI agents. And I got the whole neighborhood covered by a few of my cop cousins."

"_A few_?" he looks at her amused "how many is _a few_?"

"Twelve" comes Kono's and Chin's reply.

"Okay then" he shakes his head with a weird smile "now, we just have to find your crazier half... let's go..."

/

/

They start to make their way to the door when he looks back and sees her following him.

"Where do you think you're going, missy?" he stops in his tracks looking at her like she's crazy.

"I'm going with you" she frown at him "I'm going to help my husband."

"No, no no..." he turns around and pushes her gently towards the smart table "you're not going to waltz in there, all pretty and _back on the fucking island_ when he's standing there playing chicken with his archenemy. You and..." he looks at Bruno who stands behind her solemnly "_your friend_ over there, are staying in HQ. Besides babe, I'm still worried they'll manage to take him from under our noses, I need you to handle the electronic tracking from here."

"Danny..." she sighs.

"We're bringing him home alive" he says quietly "I promise, I'll make sure he won't get hurt. I'll bring him back safe and sound, and in one piece, so he could bloody well kill you himself..."

/

/

He spots Joe on the right shoulder near the H1 and Kualakai Parkway intersection. He sits in a red car, with the hood up, looking at the road with a pair of binoculars. He looks at his watch. He's been driving for twenty three minutes since he talked to Danny. He slows the car a little, and looks around him, but he can see only random cars on the road, not one of them looks like it's following him. He knows the area, he has about seven miles before he'll have to turn towards Ewa. He looks at the phone, no calls. He has a really bad feeling about this. He starts to think it's not going to work after all.

/

/

"He got a call" she tells them on the phone. "It's from his old phone again, it's Wo Fat" her voice sounds choked with worry.

"Chin, do you have a visual?" Danny asks from the Camaro. They've split cars, in case they'd lose him and will have to give chase.

"I'm too far ahead" Chin answers "maybe Milai's team can spot him."

She calls Milai, and spends a few nerves wrecking moments waiting for her to contact her surveillance team "he stopped the car" Milai tells her eventually. He's parked at the side of the road. He still sits inside. There is no sign of other vehicles around him."

She keeps Milai on hold and calls Joe. He's already on his way on the parallel road, towards Ewa.

"Wait" he tells her "I'm on Farrington Highway. I'll try to cross back to the main road and take a quick look."

It takes too long. It takes too fucking long. She watches the map on the computer, Steve's signal doesn't move. The police car's GPS is transmitting from the same location. She declines Milai's offer to move her team towards him. It's too dangerous, they have to assume he's being watched.

"A movement" Bruno tells her suddenly. The car's GPS is still at the same location, but Steve's signal moves. They watch with trepidation how his signal moves at the same direction he was driving at the beginning, on the big highway.

"Joe" she cries to the phone, can you see anything?"

"I can't get there" comes his desperate reply "a big truck is blocking the entire road. I'll have to go back and try to get there from the other side."

"It's a trap" she mumbles "they knew we were following him, they're cutting us off."

"It's almost 20 miles per hour" Bruno tells her.

"What?"

"His velocity. Look."

She blows out the map, and makes a quick data analysis. Bruno is right, Steve's signal moves in a constant pace of 18.2 miles per hour.

"He's running" she mumbles, looking at the map.

"Running?" Bruno looks at her amused "that's... an impressive pace..."

"He's a very impressive guy" she whispers, eyes locked on the screen "where the fuck is he running to?"

"Or from what?"

/

/

Danny hears Kono's desperate words, and curses the whole fucking world. He runs the information in his brain again and again. What the fuck are they missing? He thinks about calling Steve's phone, but it's too dangerous. If there's still a small chance Wo Fat doesn't know they're coming, they should keep the radio silence to make it last. Rogan's information was very detailed. Names, contact numbers, vehicles with license plates numbers, addresses of safe houses... The only thing that was suspicious was the fact that there were so many of them. When Joe and him came out of the interrogation room, and went over the list, they looked at each other thoughtfully. How the fuck was he able to arrange for such a big infrastructure in only one month?

He runs the details again and again. Ewa, Kapolei. Did he get it wrong?

"I'm changing courses" Chin's words comes from the speaker "Joe will never make it. I'll drive on the Kunia road to the H1 and try to get to him from the north."

"Fine" Danny agrees "but I'm still going towards Kapolei. Worst case scenario, I'll join you from the south."

/

/

When Joe finds himself blocked by that truck, he has to maneuver between a few tens of vehicles that got stuck there on the highway, with him. He's driving backwards, cursing himself for moving too quickly to the parallel road, without making sure Steve is far enough. He thinks about getting off the road, and drive on the shoulders, maybe across the low vegetation and the sand, to try and get to the other big road. When he sees a big red truck coming his way, honking its horn, he does exactly that. He makes the seven minutes bumpy ride back to the H1. When he finally gets there, he finds himself on the lane leading to the wrong direction. He curses his luck, again. There's a big divide in between the two lanes, which he can't cross with his car. He makes a quick decision and starts driving against the coming traffic, hoping to survive.

/

/

"The block on the road" she says suddenly "did Joe say it was an accident?"

"No" Bruno looks at her intently "he only said it was blocking the lanes."

She opens a new window, and pulls the traffic reports of the island. The slowly formed traffic jam on the Farrington Highway is there. She scrolls down the report, with gradually increased anxiety level. There's a similar picture on the west side of the road, beyond the Kualakai parkway.

"They're isolating seven miles of the parkway. They blocked it from two directions." She says frantically.

Bruno moves to the map again, watching Steve's signal "he's running straight to the isolated segment of road" he mumbles.

She watches the movements on the screen "there's no safe house, no location in Ewa, or in Kapolei... _This is the meeting place_..."

"The guys are there" he tells her "even if they'll have to walk, they can still make it."

They call them again, explaining the situation, and directing them to the right location.

"I'm almost there" Joe shouts "five minutes."

"I'll be there, too" Chin cries "six to seven minutes, top."

"Milai, get your team to the Farrington Highway, five miles east to the Kualakai parkway." She cries desperately to the phone.

"I'm on it" Milai spits back. She can hear in the background the sound of the HPD dispatcher calling all units to the mentioned location. It doesn't matter that everybody is on alert now, they're about to lose him, there's no point in keeping it quiet anymore.

"Kono, the signal" Bruno cries "the movement pattern had changed!"

"It's..." she can't believe it, the signal moves so fast. Then it suddenly changes direction and moves to the south.

/

/

"I'm there" Joe shouts on the phone "I'm here... there's nothing. _Fuck!_ I can't see him anywhere."

/

/

"I don't..." she looks at the screen in bewilderment "I don't get it."

"A helicopter" Bruno shouts "I can recognize the movement pattern. He took him in a helicopter. He's already gone."

A moment later, when someone finally takes away his phone, Steve's signal disappears off the screen...

/

/

"Shit, shit, shit" she curses, trying to ignore the tears in her eyes, wiping them violently as she opens a data connection to the island's air traffic control.

/

/

"I'm here" Chin cries on the phone "I can't see him anywhere. Kono...?"

"Kono?" Joe cries in frustration.

"Kono? anything?" Danny's voice is also heard.

* * *

**A/N2**: Okay, this one was a bit short. It had to be. But, Kono is back in the action, and she's more than a pretty face behind the computer, as you all know. I know that the opening segments to each chapter are a bit confusing. It will all explain itself eventually, you'll see. They are not entirely what you think I'm afraid. Sorry...


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N**: Thank you for reading, favoring and following this fic. Especially thank you for commenting on it. I really appreciate every single one of you who takes the time to write something.

I'm sorry about the cliffie from last time, but we'll continue from where we left off.

Please tell me what you think.

* * *

/

_They walk slowly along the aisle, putting random articles in the shopping cart. She sits in the small compartment at the head of the cart, facing him, her little legs dangling in the air, and she's talking nonstop, like always. _

_"Kai has four legs" she tells him pointedly. _

_"Yes, he does" he agrees, even if he has no idea why this well known fact should receive so much attention all of a sudden "do you remember if we need something else from this section, baby?" he looks around him trying to remember how many potatoes they have left. He knew he should have made a list. He's so tired these days, he can't remember anything. _

_"Mmmeemm" she shakes her head decisively "...so this is why he runs so fast" she explains. He hopes she realizes it doesn't make it any clearer. _

_"Yep" he nods, reaching for some onions "he runs very fast." He'll stick to what he knows at this point. _

_"Even faster than you" she looks at him carefully, her big brown eyes full with concern. _

_"Even faster than me" he agrees willingly. It's obvious the girl struggles with her conflicting loyalties to her dog and to her father. He smiles. He could just kiss her, she's so cute. _

_"But he swims very slow" she announces, spreading her little hands in the air, in what suspiciously looks like somethig she'd learnt from Danny. _

_"What?" he looks at her with confusion. _

_"Kai" she raises her little voice, looking at him like he's being stupid "he has four legs but he swims very slow" she repeats. He half expects her to roll her eyes and tap her foot like her mother does, when she thinks he doesn't listen. _

_"I think he swims pretty well, baby girl" he mumbles, looking at the shelves "you like peanut butter and jam in your sandwich, right? maybe we should buy some more. For pre-school..."_

_"He swims slower than you" she says thoughtfully "and mommy, and aunty Mary and uncle Chin and..." _

_"I really don't think he minds swimming slowly" he looks at her seriously "you know... like uncle Danny doesn't. I mean, uncle Danny tries not to swim at all, if he can help it... I don't think there's anything to worry about." She looks up at him deep in thought, measuring his face silently for a few moments "do we need anything else, sweetheart?" he sighs, looking around him. God, he's so tired. _

_"Ice cream" she says automatically. She's probably right. The amount of ice cream that is consumed in their household is of epic proportion. He can't imagine how, he himself never touches the stuff "maybe it's because he's too little" she muses._

_"Kai is older than you, baby" he smiles "we brought him home when we found out we were about to have you. It was eight whole months before you were born." _

_She looks at him startled, her big brown eyes locked with his ocean blue ones, and he looks back at her with a faint smile on his lips. The mere suggestion that things were happening before she was born, probably blows her mind completely._

_"You want vanilla, right?" he asks her when they reach the ice cream section "and we'll take some strawberry ice cream for Mary Ann." He puts the two packages in the cart, but before he has a chance to move away she says "and chocolate for mommy." _

_He looks at her unsurely "Moana, you know that..."_

_"Maybe he don't like to swim" she shakes her little head "maybe he just wants to be with us when we go to the ocean, but he really don't like it..." she looks at him mortified. The new idea that a living creature could dislike the ocean seems preposterous to her. _

_"Doesn't" he says quietly "maybe he DOESN'T like it..." _

_"But he likes to surf" she puts her hand on her face, almost desperate with confusion "when mommy takes the surf board and goes surfing, he always jumps around her, and barks and asks her to take him with her." _

_"Moana" he says quietly "maybe we should talk about..." he stands in front of her, holding a package of chocolate ice cream, not knowing what the hell he should do. _

_"Kai is very confusing" she tells him seriously, shaking her head. _

_"Yes, baby" he nods "I think a lot of things are very confusing around here..."_

_"She likes the pink one" she tells him. _

_"What?" he has no idea what she's talking about. _

_"Mommy" she frowns, and again, the exact same expression her mother has is back, when she finds herself facing another pathetic lack of understanding on his part "she likes the chocolate ice cream in the pink box." _

_/_

_Later, when they're at home and in the kitchen, after he'd fixed her a sandwich and he's busy putting all the food in its place, he can't help but smile when he hears her explaining to the relatively patient dog, who sits and looks at her admiringly, how the ocean is the best place in the entire world. She promises to teach him to swim faster, and promises to take him surfing and to play with her in the sand, and the dog barks, loudly, and licks her face with his big pink tongue. She laughs and pushes him away and cries excitedly "daddy, he said yes. He said he wants to go swimming and that he loves the ocean." He just shrugs, because he has a feeling the dog's enthusiastic licking has more to do with her adorable face that is completely covered with peanut butter and jam, and less with his sudden fascination with the ocean . _

_When he opens the bottom drawer of the freezer, to put away the ice cream they bought, he finds four unopened pink boxes of Kono's favorite chocolate ice cream there. _

* * *

/

"Danny, it's a helicopter" she shouts to the phone, "we lost it, but it was moving south, heading your way, can you see anything?"

"Hang on" Danny says "I'll have to stop and look." They can hear the car screeching into a halt, when he stops it violently, and the door opens and then slammed shut. Then they just wait.

"I should have seen it" she shakes her head with despair "the way they closed that road. It had to be for an airborne extraction. They knew we were following him. We played right into their hands."

She takes a deep breath, trying to regain control on her shaking body. When she looks at Bruno, he stands near the computer, studying the map carefully.

"I'll try the tower in pearl harbor" she mumbles "it's the closest air traffic control station to Ewa. Maybe they can see them on their radar."

She makes the call and spends five entire minutes arguing with the air traffic controller when he refuses to cooperate.

"Maybe you didn't hear me" she shouts "I'm with Five 0. We have full jurisdiction."

"I don't care" he tells her from the other side of the line "you need to show me a written authorization."

"Listen to me" she shouts "I work for the governor, don't mess with me..."

"I answer only to the airport authority" he notifies her "it's a federal agency, I don't care about your state officials."

"You little..." she starts.

"Got it" she can hear Danny's voice suddenly "a black chopper with a red stripe across it. Heading west now. I'm going after it."

/

/

"It doesn't make sense..." Bruno mumbles "why would they... it's ridiculous. Tell Chin and Joe to ride north." He shouts. Tell Danny to keep driving west to 93. If I'm right, he'll lose them near Nanakuli."

"You want him to lose them?" Kono looks at him incredulously.

"Tell Chin and Joe to drive north to the Makua Kea'au Forest Reserve." He pulls out his phone "I think I know where they're going."

"Chin, Joe..." she explains the instructions again, as she pulls out the right map on the screen. "I need to be out there too, Bruno" she looks at him seriously, and he stops for a minute, looking at her quietly.

"Fine" he sighs after a quick assessment "take your laptop, we can't rely on a ground chase anymore, I'm calling the Wheeler Army airfield. They'll cooperate..."

/

/

He drives the FBI van and she sits shot gun. Danny keeps driving west, as agreed, but soon Bruno turns out to be right, and the chopper turns north and he loses it. Chin and Joe are back in their cars, driving blind, towards the big forest.

"Brent" she hears Bruno barking into the phone "agent Bruno Strauss, here... Yes, _Colonel Strauss_... _Yes, that one_... I need an _easy_ favor... We're tracking a chopper flying north from west to Ewa towards the Makua Kea'au Forest... Of course you can Brent, it's easy... You don't need any, you have _my authorization,_ right now... _Because you can_, and because you should, and because I happen to know they're looking to send a new army liaison to Albania... _Because it's a shitty place with scheduled lockdowns and electrical blackouts, and if you don't help me, I'll make sure you'll be stationed there for the next decade..._ " there's a long lingering quiet after his last angry statement before she can see him smile. "Thanks Brent," he says to the phone "you see? I told you it'll be easy... hang on, I'm handing you to my colleague here, she'll give you the details for the data connection."

She takes Bruno's phone and talks to the guy on the other side, and he sounds crashed and resentful, like he was hit in the face a couple of times. She gives him the contact identifiers, and they establish connection and in a few minutes she gets the airfield radar straight to her lap top.

"They keep heading north, along the coast line" she tells her team on the phone "keep moving, I'll tell you if they change course. How did you know?" she asks him, as he accelerates the car on their way to the same location.

"Experience" he shrugs "people look at a chopper like a tactical vehicle, but they forget its disadvantages. They think that because it's relatively small and has good maneuvering capabilities, it can land anywhere, and fool everyone, but it's not true. It's relatively slow, it needs a proper landing site, and flying it above an urban area is actually very difficult. They wouldn't have used it if they didn't absolutely have to. So I had to assume the place they were going to was inaccessible, or that they wanted to avoid a ground chase, and it had to be close enough for them to keep low and out of sight. It's not as easy as you think, Ohau handles one of the heaviest private air traffic routs in the country. I looked at the map, the closest area that seemed like a potential, is the big forest. I think they're going to hide him there."

"And the airfield guy?"

"Brent?" he laughs "just a guy, that I know from before, and that happens to sit in the right position."

"You're not a regular FBI agent, are you?" she asks suddenly.

"Emmm..." he glances towards her "No. Not really" he confesses.

"You said Colonel..." she raises her eyebrow.

"I was. I mean, I am. Army Rangers." she keeps looking at him questioningly "Okay, I'm a Former CIA, too. I worked mainly in the middle east. Syria..."

"What happened?" she asks curiously "why did you leave?"

"The same old cliché" he smiles to himself "met a nice Jewish girl, fell in love. She promised to marry me, so I promised to stay alive..."

"That sounds good" she smiles.

"It _is_ good" he nods "we live in Kauai now, with our two sons. The sooner we find this husband of yours, and put this thing to rest, the sooner I get to see them again."

/

/

They follow the chopper until the edge of the forest, where the cars can't go on anymore. After the chopper lands, the radar is of no use anymore. When they get there, Chin, Joe and Danny are already there, looking at the map, planning their advancement into the woods. They watch the area around them, high vegetation, trees, the mountains towering above them. The progress will be slow, by the time they find the landing area, they could already take him anywhere.

"They landed here" she shows them on the map. There are two options, either they got where they wanted to, or that this was the last place they could land at."

"Danny" Joe looks at him suddenly "remember what Rogan said?"

The detective looks up at him thoughtfully, before he suddenly realizes what he's saying "of course. How stupid of me, the bunker."

"The bunker?" they all look at him.

"Yes, Rogan said they found an old WWII bunker that was closed to visitors and which they used as a hiding place. It's underground, out of sight... but he didn't know where it was."

Chin looks at Kono, the entire island was under attack during the war, half the bunkers were not even mapped. Old constructions are still being found, occasionally, usually by curious children or unhealthily courageous tourists. Most of the places are being examined and then closed to the public, for safety reasons. They look at each other thoughtfully, who would know about these locations? the military? the island's reservations authority?

"The archeological society" Chin cries "they have to clear all underground constructions, and make sure they don't occupy a ground of religious and cultural significance."

"_Makai_" they say it together, before Chin pulls out his phone.

"Who's Makai?" Danny asks.

They both answer the obvious "_Our cousin._"

/

/

He wakes up in a dark, small and cold chamber. He tries to move, but his hands are tied behind his back, and his body is crashed on the floor, leaning against a stone wall. He takes a few deep breaths, trying to force himself to wake up completely. His head hurts, his shoulder throbs, and when he raises his head from the wet ground, he can feel the dirt sticking to a clotting gush of blood from the side of his face. He tries to sit up, but it's hard. His ribs are already fractured from before, and he can't help the sharp pain that goes through his chest when he strains the muscles to change his position. He sends his legs forward, and realizes they are restrained, too. Then he just sits there, and examines his surroundings.

He can tell by the low temperature, that he must be underground. He can hear water trickling down behind him, he concludes that he must be in a basement of some sort. He looks carefully on the wall, there are a few metal rods coming out of the wall, and they look old. He looks at the pins, and the screws, and the way they are attached to the wall and sees that it's not the regular modern installation he's used. Where the hell is he?

The last thing he remembers is being pulled into the helicopter, and Kono's phone being yanked away from him, and crashed to pieces. They'd put him in the back seat of the chopper, an armed guard in each side. From the front seat, he saw Wo Fat looking back at him. "It's him" he said to the other men, turning back to the look at the front window. Then, somebody knocked him out.

He drops his head back against the wall. He must be in some kind of an old bunker, probably one of the many constructions spread around the island since WWII. He knows perfectly well, most of them had not been discovered yet. The ones who were, are usually closed to the public. He could be anywhere around the island, maybe on a different island all together. The guys were following him, and Chin knows the island pretty well, but following a chopper in an urban area, and then, finding him in some obscure location, probably deep in one of the big forests... that's… virtually impossible.

/

/

"Should we spread HPD forces around the forest?" Chin asks.

"It's a too heavy approach" Joe mumbles.

"Makai gave us seven different places to look at" Kono sighs "it might take hours."

"We should separate" Joe says.

"_No way_" Chin and Danny are shaking their heads simultaneously, looking at Kono.

"We stay together, go in quietly, until we find him."

/

/

They hit him for hours. He's tied up to a metal rod on the wall, as they work on him methodically. There are two of them, hitting in turns. When the first one gets tired, the other one takes over. They hit his torso. Chest, abdomen, back, sometimes his face. It's not the most vulnerable area, but he knows why they do it. It's longer, and it takes a lot of energy out of the attacker, but it's very effective. It crashes you from within. It creates a constant, dull, lingering pain, that exhaust your body completely. The constant blows don't allow the adrenalin rush to kick in, so the pain is always there. You can practically feel your body getting weaker and weaker. It's cruel, because it allows you time to think, it keeps you frightened, because you keep imagine the long term damage, the internal bleeding, the way that even after they'll leave you alone, you might never survive. Cutting a finger is easy, it's apparent, it's immediate, so you focus on the sharp pain and swallow it... hitting you repeatedly in the guts, on your rib cage, is different, it shows you they're _stronger than you_, that _they have time_. _It slowly breaks your spirit_.

"Where is your family?" Wo Fat asks casually, sitting on a chair in the corner, clean shaven, clothes neatly ironed, wearing expensive shiny shoes.

"I don't know" he breathes.

"You're lying. You wouldn't let them out of your sight, I know you. Where are they?"

"I don't know" he says again, after a minute, when he tries to breathe after an extremely brutal blow to his chest "and even if I did..."

"You're pushing the inevitable" Wo Fat tells him quietly "you should give them up and let me end this."

"I don't know where they are" he spits some blood on the ground "and you'll never find them."

"I'll kill you, McGarrett" he says pointedly, standing up from his chair and walking towards him "I have no other choice. After you die, do you think they'll be better off?"

"You can do whatever you want with me" he tries to shout, earning himself another fist to his stomach "but you'll never find them."

"Steve" Wo Fat sighs "you know what I'm capable of. You know I always get what I want. They'll be on the run, always, and you won't be there to protect them..."

"_Fuck you!_" he spits, trying to move towards him, but he's too weak to reach him.

"Tell me where they are, and I'll be kind with you" he holds up his head by his filthy hair, looking into his bloodshot eyes "cooperate, and I'll kill you first, so you don't have to watch them die."

/

/

He wakes up again, on the floor of the small dark chamber. He can hardly breathe. Every movement of air is like trying to push against a wall. He tries to move, slowly, groaning quietly when his body refuses to cooperate. He's so weak, they didn't even bother to tie his legs this time. His arms are restrained behind his back though, and it takes him a few long painful minutes to sit up.

He leans against the wall, shaking, trying not to faint from the excruciating pain, when suddenly he hears an unusual commotion from behind the closed door. He raises his head carefully, looking intently at the door. He thinks he hears the slamming of metal against metal, furious shouts and a lot of people running around. He doesn't hear gunshots or anything like that, but something is definitely happening out there.

/

/

The door opens violently then, and the sudden light burns his eyes, forcing him to turn away. When he looks up again, he sees Wo Fat and two other men pushing _her_ into the room. They throw her on the floor in front of him, and suddenly he realizes that there wasn't a single time in his life that he'd been so sacred.

"No" he breathes when he sees her "no, no, nooooo..." he tries to get up, and move towards her, but he can't.

"Where are your friends?" Wo Fat shouts "there are two more of you, are they out there as well?"

She doesn't answer, she's too busy looking at her husband and assessing his physical condition.

"We don't have time for this." Wo Fat shouts to his men with apparent frustration "we have to make sure her two other friends are not outside. Leave her here for now, we'll deal with her later."

They close the door on them, and they remain alone, looking at each other in the dark.

"What are you doing here?" he groans. She can practically hear him fighting his tears.

"I'm here, because you're here" she says quickly, running to his side.

"_I sent you away!_" he screams "_I ordered you out!_" He has no idea how he has the energy to do it, but her presence there shakes him to his core.

"_You're not my boss!_" she shouts back in anger "I had enough with you, making all the decisions in our relationship." She crosses her arms on her chest looking at him defiantly.

"I _am_ your fucking boss" he hisses "I'm your commanding officer, for god's sakes."

"You sent me away as _my husband_, not as the Five 0 leader" she reminds him "and I'm pretty sure _I'm_ the boss in _our house_..."

He glares at her furiously, as she sits there in front of him, angry and beautiful.

"I'm pretty sure _none of us_ is _the boss_ in our house" he whispers, his throat tight with fear "where is she?" his voice is almost inaudible.

"She's safe" she whispers gently, holding him against her for the first time. He lays his head on her shoulder, breathing her scent, feeling her warmth around him.

"_He's going to kill you_" he shivers into her neck.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N1**: Thank you for reading, favoring and following this fic. Especially thank you for commenting on it.

Please tell me what you think.

* * *

/

_He's in the basement with Danny, and they're folding the laundry together. _

_"Where are the girls?" he asks suddenly "it's too quiet."_

_"Relax, babe" Danny shakes his head at him "they're upstairs. Playing."_

_"Are they?" he looks up the stairs dubiously "I don't know if playing is the right description. I think Gracie uses Moana for some sort of an experiment. Whenever they play together Moana ends up all covered with beads and bows and... you know... that shiny stuff..."_

_"It's called glitter" Danny snorts "and it's only going to get worse, so you'd better get used to it."_

_"Worse?" he looks at him questioningly._

_"I mean, sophisticated, and much more expansive."_

_"It won't" he says decisively "Moana is not a typical girl. She's not interested in... all this girly stuff..." _

_"She's a girl" Danny shrugs "they all want to be princesses and ballerinas, and paint their room pink, and draw big red hearts on everything..." _

_"Not her" he protests immediately "she's different. In fact, she'd already told me she wants to be a SEAL when she grows up" Danny just looks at him startled "which could actually be an excellent career move..." he informs him, holding his daughter's red dress in his hand "she could actually be very good..." Danny only watches him with disapproval._

_"Lucky for you, they don't really allow girls in the SEALs" Danny reminds him._

_"Well" he glares at him stubbornly "they certainly should!"_

_They continue in silence for a few more minutes, arranging the clothes into three separate piles. _

_"So... how are you holding up?" Danny asks casually._

_"We're fine" he shrugs "Mary Ann is a great help, and of course, Kono's mother...we have a good little routine going on... especially in face of the fact that... well, there's not a lot we can actually do at the moment. I miss... well, I miss work..." he says quietly. _

_"I know, babe" Danny sighs "we miss you there too. Both of you." They stay quiet again, each wrapped in his own thoughts. "The kid seems to be doing fine" Danny says encouragingly. _

_"She does" he nods "well... the nights are a problem, actually. She still refuses to sleep in her own bed, and she wakes up a lot. Actually we both do."_

_"Yeah, I know" Danny says simply "the nights are always the problem." _

_"What do you mean?" he looks at him sharply "what do you mean always?" _

_"Well, I've seen it before, haven't I?" he looks at him sadly "it's the exact same thing each time you go on one of your military drills. Kono was always saying..." _

_He looks at him in alarm, eyes burn with regret "every time? she never said anything to me."_

_"It's Kono, babe, the toughest woman in the northern hemisphere, and she knew how important your service is for you, so she didn't want you to feel guilty. Of course she wouldn't say anything..." he takes a deep breath, trying to ignore the sharp pain in his chest. He feels so stupid suddenly. _

_/ _

_It's after Danny and Grace leave, and he's just finishing to put another batch in the washing machine, that he hears her rushing down the stairs towards him. _

_"I want to go to the ocean, daddy" she pulls at his hand forcefully, trying to move him away from what he is doing. _

_"Now?" he looks at her tiredly "it's almost dinner time. Tomorrow..." _

_"Mmmmeemm" she shakes her head resolutely "now. I want to jump from the rocks."_

_"Maybe in the weekend?" he stands up in front of her, and she raises her head to look at him "it's late... and you have preschool tomorrow." _

_They stand in the basement, next to the humming washing machine, facing each other in a battle of wills. He's tall, looking down at her, and she stands before him looking up with her big brown eyes, wild hair and her mother's face. _

_"Moana..." he says quietly, testing the water._

_"Daddy..." she says without batting an eye, her lower lip pressed forward indicating to him that she's willing to take it all the way. _

_"Fine" he sighs, throwing his head back in surrender "go get you swimsuit, I'll get changed." _

_She squeals. She actually squeals. Running up the stairs with sheer excitement. He can't help it, he just has to run after her and pick her up and hug her, and kiss her little belly and listen to her giggly screams when she squirms in his strong arms. He can't believe it, how happy and energetic, and strong his little girl is. Well, he shrugs mentally, he actually can. She's just like her mother. He holds her tight when he thinks about it. Pressing his face into her hair. _

_"Daddy, you're squeezing me" she cries, laughing uncontrollably "let me go."_

_"Never" he growls, kissing her chin "never ever. You're mine." It earns him another joyful squeal._

_/_

_They stand on the shore line, with Kai, looking into the big blue ocean, when she lets go of his hand and runs on the slippery rocks of the breakwater. _

_"Not so fast baby girl" he shouts after her "I don't want you to fall." _

_"I want to jump." she cries back, not even looking his way, as he stands there on the sand trying to understand what she's doing. _

_"Oh shit!" he cries, suddenly realizing what it is she's about to do "Moana, wait up. You can't just jump in the water... wait." He runs hurriedly into the water, jumps in quickly, and tries to swim all the way to the edge of the bay, as fast as he can. His stubborn, eager little offspring is going to jump into the water, and he's not even there. _

_She jumps. Like a rocket. Blue swimsuit flashing in the evening sun, before she disappears under the water. He gets there a second after her, and dives in, and finds her moving like a small dolphin, under him. He pulls her out, not knowing if to scream at her or to hug her, and she looks up at him, coughing out some sea water she'd swallowed. _

_"Are you okay, baby?" he asks worriedly._

_"Mmmhhhmm" she nods enthusiastically, her face flushed with excitement "I want to go again!"_

_"Again?" he looks at her astonished "you almost..."_

_"Again" she says decisively, trying to pry out of his arms._

_"Fine" he gives up, he knows how bad are his chances here."But you can't jump before I'm actually there to catch you, okay?" _

_"Mmmhhmm" she nods, and he moves them to the edge of the breakwater again, and looks at her climbing up on the rocks and jump to the ocean again, she lets him catche her in midair, and then they both dive in the water together, and he hears her gasp with excitement when they break back up to breathe. They do it again after that, and again, and again... until she probably decides she had enough, and lets him just bob there in the water, while she holds onto his shoulders, breathless, and tired, and shivering. _

_"Okay, sweetheart" he pushes the wet hair away from her little face "I think it's enough for today, don't you?" _

_"Mmmhhmm" she mumbles quietly, before she lays her head on his broad shoulder and holds him around his neck. _

_He hugs her against him in the water, listening to her breaths getting even, letting her hang on him after all her energy had been spent. He hums quietly in her ear, and lets the water rock them gently, under the gradually darkening sky. _

_/_

_/ _

"We have to move, baby" she says at last, kissing his temple tenderly, letting him catch his breath and look up at her "we have little time."

"You have a plan" he looks at her closely "don't you?" she only smiles, moving her soft hands to his bondages. She can't open the ties, they're too tight, so she pulls out a knife from the concealed compartment in her boot, and looks at him intently. He nods, and then he has to bite his lip, in an attempt to refrain from screaming when she slowly cuts the ropes, and it burns his already bruised and tormented flesh.

"Okay" she breathes, after a few more minutes "all done. Can you stand at all?"

He has no idea so he just lets her hold him under his armpit and pull him up. She practically drags him towards the metal door, and positions him against the wall behind it.

"Where are we? What's the plan?" he whispers quietly, still a bit dazed by the pain the last effort caused him.

"We're in an old bunker in the middle of the Makua Kea'au Forest Reserve" she whispers in his ear, as she's pressed against him, trying to keep him upright "we couldn't come heavy, we're outnumbered, we had to find a way to lure them out of the bunker and search the forest."

"So you gave them incentive" he says, realizing what they did "you put yourself as bait, and let them catch you..."

"Yes" she smiles, touching tentatively near a nasty looking cut he has on his forehead "I stepped out of hiding and walked towards the bunker, until they discovered me. I made so much noise, shouting and fighting, they had to bring me in. Wo Fat recognized me immediately."

"You fought?" he tries to conceal his amusement.

"Yup" she shrugs "I broke one man's arm, and another one's nose. I would have done more damage, but Chin and Danny were watching me, and I promised not to kill anyone until they bring me in to see you."

"Danny and Chin are out there?" he looks at her with concern "are they armed appropriately? I've counted at least ten guys beside Wo Fat. They have top notch equipment from what I've seen, and I think they have explosives too."

"Don't worry" she says quietly. Typical, even when they were beating the crap out of him, he was still doing perimeter checks and reconnaissance "we're splitting them up. We're making them chase Danny and Chin into the forest. Chin knows this area, they'll move quickly. They only expect two men, so when they spread around, Joe and Bruno will get them. It's practically traditional guerilla warfare" she smiles brightly "We thought you'd appreciate it..."

"Bruno?" he looks at her thoughtfully "isn't he that FBI guy?"

"The very one" she confirms.

"The fucking bastard. You worked your charms on him, didn't you? Made him let you stay on the island. He must be a weak and pathetic man. I wouldn't count on him to..."

"His name is Bruno Strauss. _Colonel_ Bruno Strauss" she says patiently "he's a retired Army Rangers colonel and also a CIA agent..."

"Oh..." he looks at her with surprise.

"Precisely. And not only is he _outrank_ you, he's also the sole reason we managed to find you and come to save your sorry ass, so you'd better be polite and show some respect when you meet him again."

"Yes ma'am" he smiles, bowing his head and laying it on her shoulder "god, I missed you..." he murmurs against her skin.

"Baby..." she whispers, caressing his filthy cheek, and kissing his messed up and bloody hair "okay, hear me out. They won't leave this place unattended for long. They're focusing on the outside right now, but eventually they'll see it's taking too long, and will be back here to question me. When they get in here, our first step is to get their weapon, and take a hold of this room. Then we just have to wait for the guys to come back and help us out of here."

"Fine" he nods "we'll do that."

"Take my knife" she hands him the small army knife he bought her in Christmas "you're better with it than me, anyway."

"What about you?" he asks worriedly.

"I'll use what I'm good at, baby" she smiles mischievously "it will be my pleasure to finish what I started outside."

/

/

When they see six men getting out of the bunker and spread in two lines formation towards the forest, Danny taps Chin's shoulder and they start moving. They move quickly, in two opposite directions, making sure to create enough noise to capture their attention. Danny uses the back of his rifle to crash some bushes and also kicks some stones noisily on the ground, and it works, because two of Wo Fat's men are running after him immediately. When he sees them coming, he increases his pace, running as fast as he can, between the trees. From the corner of his eye he can see Joe White moving in parallel to him, with a gun in his hand.

/

/

When Chin feels Danny's hand on his shoulder, he doesn't even wait to see his partner run. He stands up in an instant, and shoots once in the air. He makes sure he has the men's attention, then he starts running to the opposite direction. He moves quickly, sliding between rocks and high vegetation, as far away as he can from the bunker and from Danny. He looks back, and sees with great satisfaction, how four men are starting to run after him. He's quick, and the terrain he chose is crowded with thick vegetation so they hang their rifles on their backs and use their hands to push through it. After three or four minutes, he looks back again and gradually slows down, to let them catch up with him. He leads them under a low branched tree, behind a small elevation in the ground, when they run beneath it, Bruno jumps on top of them, and they all crumble down.

/

/

There's a single shot, and the man closest to him falls down on the ground with blood coming out of his head. Joe's gun did the work impeccably, and now there's only one more guy. He slides on the wet ground, lying low in the dirt, when the second man runs towards him, he shoots him in his stomach from a close range.

Joe steps towards him, extending his hand to help him up. They look at the two dead men, and nod at each other silently. All past differences they might have had before, are gone now. They actually make a good team. He smiles, Steve would probably like that.

When they hear a few gun shots from the direction in which Chin was heading, they run to give the other guys a hand.

/

/

Bruno kills the first one with a shot to the head. The second one, he finishes with his knife, stabbing him in the chest. Chin shoots the other two with his shotgun, from where he's positioned behind a rock.

When Danny and Joe get there running, fearing the worst, they find them standing up, filthy and sweating. Six dead bodies. First step is done.

/

/

There's a noise coming from the door, and they hear the lock being turned open, and the distinct sound of metal sliding against metal when the heavy door starts moving. They hide behind the door, Steve in a good position next to the wall, when the first man steps in, Kono pulls him inside and kicks the back of his knee. He falls down, so she kicks his head in and grabs his weapon. At the same time, Steve with the rest of his strength pushes the door closed, preventing anyone else from getting in.

"Don't move" she orders, cocking the gun and pointing it to the man's head.

There's a violent push against the closed door, and Steve finds it hard to keep it shut for too long. When she looks at her husband hurriedly, the guy makes his move towards her, going to her neck, and she crashes back towards Steve, who's still pushing at the door. She shoots him, and he falls dead on the ground. The sound of the shot makes the guys outside stop pushing against the door suddenly, when they seem to realize what's going on.

"I'll open the door" he tells her quietly "you shoot once, and then we close it again."

She only nods, taking position away from the door, and pulling the dead guy up, to take cover behind his limp body. He lets the door open for a few seconds and she sees two men standing there, holding M16s. She shoots twice, killing the both of them on sight. When they drop to the ground, Steve is able to push the door close on them.

"I said once" he hisses towards her.

"Sorry boss" she shrugs.

"I forgive you, officer" he smiles graciously. She looks at him worriedly, she can see he's struggling; his fight to close the door against resistance took all his energy.

/

/

They run back towards the bunker, and take concealed positions between the trees. The first part of the plan worked impeccably, now they only hope Kono and Steve will be able to do their part.

/

/

"McGarrett!" they hear Wo Fat's voice from behind the door "your two friends are dead. You're stuck in this room, with nowhere to go. Nobody's coming. Give up."

"He said two" she whispers "he has no idea. It's a sign they must have pulled it off."

"I have an M16 here with two 20 rounds magazines, and the best markswoman in the continent" he shouts back "just come and get me."

There's a quiet on the other side of the door after his last words, and they just look at each other questioningly. There's no pushing against the metal, no movement. When he puts his ear against the metal he can hear them talking.

/

/

"They gonna blow it" he cries suddenly, leaving the door and moving towards her "they'll blow the door and the room, with us in it."

"How can you tell?" she asks horrified.

"That's what I would do..."

/

/

Danny calls Milai, but they don't wait. Both of their partners are in there, they can't take the chance. They have a gun each, when they run towards the bunker. Joe has a grenade, which he uses to blow open the door, enabling them to step in under the smoke.

/

/

They crash against the far side of the room, in the corner, and he pushes her into the wall, covering her with his bigger and heavier body. She tries to protest, but there's enough determination in his eyes to shut her up.

"Hold the rifle up" he orders, if you see a movement, shoot. If… When the explosion comes... lower your head down, cover your eyes... take a deep breath to try and protect your lungs. Did you hear what I just said?" he asks in despair, holding her forcefully under him, shaking her with intensity.

"Yes, Steve" she nods "Steve, I..."

"No" he warns sharply "tell me after! "

/

/

They run down a narrow corridor, and they have to keep their heads down, under the low ceiling. They try to move quickly but there are a few chambers there, and they have to stop and clear each and every one of them on their way in. They kill two more men, and severely wounding another one, as they make their advance carefully.

Makai gave them a rough description of the building. Two levels, a narrow corridor all the way back, a closed room with heavy walls on the bottom of a narrow metal staircase, that was used as armory in the old days. If they have to bet, they bet Steve is held there. They hope Kono is there with him.

They run down the corridor, shouting Steve's and Kono's names, until as promised, they reach the metal staircase. They climb down, and find three men standing against the walls, with their guns raised towards them.

They retreat back, hiding behind the corner, and in that few seconds when both sides try to take position, Joe shoots the first shot, dropping the first one down. A stray bullet hits Danny's Kevlar, while Chin gets the second one.

The third man gives up, raises his arms in the air and pleads for mercy. Joe and Bruno are dropping him to the floor, practically standing on top of him.

When they make their way onward, in the poorly lit corridor, they see Wo Fat standing next to a metal door, holding a cell phone.

/

/

They hear the shots coming from above them, and then from right behind the wall. She tries to move, but he pushes her back against the wall "don't" he spits towards her "not yet."

There's a big commotion around them, and they hear shouts, and two more shots. Then it's quiet again, and they know, it must be their partners breaching in, but somehow... it doesn't feel right.

/

/

"Stay back" Wo Fat shouts towards them "can you see what I'm holding?" They stop, and stand in the corridor in front of him, watching him intently. "I'll blow them up. You'll be scraping body parts from the walls."

"Okay, okay..." Danny says, standing up, after a few charged moments of silence. He leaves his gun on the floor, and walks slowly towards him "let's just talk about it first, okay?"

"Hands in the air" Wo Fat cries "let me see them."

"No problem" Danny agrees, raising his hands in the air "listen Fat, your men are all dead, you're not getting out of this."

"Stay away!" he waves his hand that holds the cell phone, when he sees Danny stepping nearer and nearer.

"Look man, at this point we can only hold you on an attempted murder. We'll take you to jail, and you'll find yourself a good lawyer and..."

"Stay back" he shouts again "you're already close enough."

"Listen to me, Fat. If you hurt them now, you'll get life, maximum security jail. _A federal_ maximum security jail... you really don't want to do that…"

"Stand where you are" he cries.

"You're not that stupid. You know you have no other option" Danny continues, still walking slowly towards him "killing two cops? Seriously? Just think about it…"

"_Now!_" Chin cries and Danny ducks down. It gives Chin a clear shot, when he puts two bullets in Wo Fat's chest.

/

/

When the metal door moves, she raises her gun, and he's ready with the knife. They hold their breaths, expecting anything.

"Babe?" Danny's voice comes from the door "Steve? Kono? Are you okay?"

"We're fine" she sighs in relief, dropping the gun, and she can practically feel how all the tension and stress leave Steve's body, as he collapses on the floor beside her. Their two partners rush in with concern, finding them sitting on the floor, shaking and exhausted. Chin pulls her up, as Joe and Danny do the same with Steve.

/

/

They walk out of the room slowly. When they come out into the light in the corridor, it's the first time she sees how bad he looks. He's all bruised up, blood clots on his face and arms, he's covered with dirt and dried up sweat. He can hardly move, grimacing with each painful step, but he's walking on his own two feet, determined, and proud. She's proud too, and overwhelmed with love. He's totally fine, there's nothing wrong with him that a good shower can't fix.

"Wo Fat?" he asks them, his voice hoarse.

"Outside with Bruno" Danny explains "Chin shot him, but he wore a Kevlar, so unfortunately he's still alive."

"What about his men?" he insists, looking around him.

"The place is clear, babe. Will you please relax already?"

/

/

They walk out to the sun, slowly, Joe and Danny support Steve from both sides, as Kono is watching them like a hawk. When they get there, he looks around him, and sees Wo Fat sitting on the ground, with a tall man hovering above him, watching him carefully.

He looks at Danny and Joe silently, and they nod, moving their arms away from him, letting him stand on his own, and walk slowly towards his enemy. He comes to stand near Bruno, and nods once in greeting.

"Colonel" he says quietly.

"Lieutenant Commander."

They both just stand there, watching Wo Fat, saying nothing.

/

/

He is still too shook up from the beatings. His mind is clouded with pain, and his better judgment is clouded by their spectacular victory. So when the HPD forces are getting there, and Milai orders two of her best men to take Wo Fat to prison, he is too vain, and too confident to notice that they're replacing his handcuffs in the wrong way. Bruno used a plastic cuffs he pulled from Danny's pocket, and it's HPD protocol to use the standard metal ones.

They're so eager to make the arrest, that when they cut him loose, it's before they put on the new restraints.

/

/

It takes him a fraction of a second to push away from the two cops, to pull a gun from one of them, to shoot towards Steve, to miss, and to run towards Kono, who stands closest to the bunker, pulling her inside with him.

/

/

They throw all caution to the wind, forget the rules of coordinated breach, and just run after them. They have to stop to take cover from two more shots he releases towards them, before they are able to get in, a second later than they should have. The chase is frantic, and scary, and desperate, and extremely short. It ends when the back of the bunker, where Fat and Kono disappeared, explodes.

/

* * *

**A/N2**: I got a lot of PMs and reviews with speculations about what happened to Kono. I read them carefully, and was impressed by the ideas. The truth is I have a solid idea of where I'm going with this, but the chapter is not written yet, so I guess everything's possible. Your comments are very helpful.

Next chapter will be the last. Hope you'll stick with this fic to the end.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N**: Thank you for reading, favoring and following this fic. Especially thank you for commenting on it. This is the last chapter of this fic. I hope you will find it appropriate. I hope all your answers will be answered, it's pretty long...

Please tell me what you think, I will appreciate it immensely.

R.

* * *

He goes to HQ even though he's not supposed to. He'd promised the guys to stay away, to let them handle work, while he faces the new challenges in his home. He can't stay away though. Something in his very essence is missing. _She's missing_, all the time, and everywhere. He thinks, maybe if he'll go over there, it will somehow allow him _feel_ her again.

He parks the car in the parking lot and steps into the elevator quietly. When he reaches the fifth floor, he looks around him for a minute, trying to take it all in. It's so quiet. Completely different than the usual hectic atmosphere he's used to. He starts to think that maybe coming here was actually a very bad idea.

He walks slowly towards the glass doors, and enters the big room. The way he feels so at home there, suddenly, is overwhelming, and he has to stop for a second and to take a deep breath. It's early, but not _that early_. Not early enough to explain the deep silence around him. He wonders where the guys are at quarter to seven in the morning.

He finds himself next to the smart table, and moves his hand on the glass surface, thinking about _her. Her. _He can practically see her standing there, moving her clever fingers, working their magic on the sophisticated equipment. The table is shut off, and he finds it quite expected. He assumes Danny tries to avoid it as much as possible now, and Chin... Chin probably prefers to work on his own lap top, in his office, and not here, where_ she _was the one who...

He tries to brace himself, before he moves towards her office. He can't help it. He simply _has_ to look inside to see if there's _something_ there. He looks for... he doesn't even know what, maybe a glimpse of her being that will somehow quiet him down. His legs are moving even before he has the time to decide if he's strong enough to actually do it.

Her office is empty. Empty and dark, and when he turns on the light the first thing he sees is their picture, looking at him from her desk. He backs up, quickly, because he feels like a wave of pain, nausea and fear is about to drown him, and when he moves back in a hurry, he crashes into Chin.

"Steve" Chin says quietly, putting his hand on his shoulder "what are you doing here?"

"Chin" he breathes, and smiles awkwardly "I just... I'm just checking in..."

"You're supposed to be off, Steve" he reminds him gently "don't you remember what 'being off' means?"

"I just came back from dropping Moana in pre-school" he says apologetically "it's ten minutes from here, I just came to..." he shakes his head, taking a deep cleansing breath again "I'm only checking in, Chin. I swear, I... I wanted to make sure that everything is under control, I needed to see..."

"You needed to see that Five 0 still exists" Chin tells more than asks "that not _everything_ was destroyed."

He only smiles tightly, at the way Chin speaks, so clearly and earnestly, in a leveled and nonjudgmental tone. They stand there in silence, looking at each other, knowing... knowing exactly what each of them craves. He swallows hard, and tries to shake away the grief, when he looks at her cousin, his friend. He knew he shouldn't have come here. It's way too hard.

"Steve" Chin says gently "you shouldn't be here. You're needed elsewhere."

"I know" he nods "I was just on my way there."

_/_

_/_

He gets into the unit, and makes his way, like in every other morning, to her room. He says hello to the secretary at the desk, and smiles to a nurse he already recognizes, who walks into one of the other rooms, to take care of one of the other patients. Her room is at the end of the corridor and when he gets closer, he sees her mother standing there, outside her door, clapping her hand on her mouth, crying.

/

/

He was certain he had no fear left in his soul anymore. That he spent all the fear he could feel when she exploded in front of him. He was mistaken. When he sees her mother, he feels like his heart drops to the floor, and the blood freezes in his veins. He runs towards her with sheer panic, thinking she must have..._she's gone_...

"_Steve!_" her mother cries when she sees him "Steve, Steve" she holds him against her when he gets close enough "I wanted to call you, but they asked me to step out of the room, and I left my phone there, and they've been there for a while now and it..."

"Is she...?" his voice is strangled, choked with unshed tears and overwhelming pain, when he shakes her and forces her to stop talking and look at him.

"What?" she looks at his face, realizing he must think that... "_No, Steve! God, no! She's fine. She's awake!_"

/

/

"She woke up at four in the morning, and they were so happy" she says quickly, "so first thing in the morning, they took the tube out, and they... they're just checking her out, and cleaning her a little, the nurses are there and the doctor, and... Steve..." she looks at him, still shivering "they said she'll be fine."

/

/

He looks at her with amazement, can't even start to absorb any of it. She's talking so fast, and she's crying and laughing, and he really thought he had lost her... but...

"I want you to call my husband" they can distinctly hear Kono's voice from the room, suddenly "Steve McGarrett" she explains, her voice low and hoarse, but he can definitely recognize her usual, healthy and vibrant tone "he must be worried out of his mind, I want you to call him. _No!_" she demands, and there's mumbling that is heard in return "I'm not doing anything until you get him over here. I'll give you the number... did you hear me...? I'm warning you..."

He bursts into the room. Of course he does. She's awake and pissed off, and he just wants to see her, and touch her, and kiss her, and tell her he loves her, because he feels like if he doesn't… he wouldn't be able to live anymore...

"There you are!" she says to him when she sees him, and he stands there in front of her, with wild look in his eyes.

"There I am" he nods seriously. She's weak, and pale, and so god damn beautiful, he just can't think of anything else to say.

"Are you alright?" she looks at him with suspicion.

"I'm..." he looks at her with astonishment "you were unconscious for almost a week now, and you ask _me_ if _I'm_ alright?"

She thinks about it for a few seconds, and has enough decency to look a bit startled "Well," she frowns "_are you?_" he can't say he's surprised. He spent enough years being completely in love with her, to know she want let him change the subject that easily.

"I'm fine" he grumbles, shaking his head.

"Are you sure?" she looks at him doubtfully "you look really tired, and you need a haircut."

"Well," he frowns, crossing his arms on his chest "I was having the worst week of my life recently, I'm afraid my aesthetics were the furthest thing from my mind."

She looks like she has something else to say, when she moves her eyes carefully on his body. Fortunately the big military nurse, who had probably had enough from the McGarrett-Kalakaua clan to last her a life time, steps in.

"Why don't you wait outside, commander?" she offers, pushing him gently out of the room "let us finish assessing her, and take care of her. It will only take a few more minutes. We'll call you in when we're done."

/

/

He stumbles. Yes stumbles out of the room. The emotional rollercoaster of the last couple of minutes finally overtakes him. It's like the rest of his defenses, his outer skeleton finally give in.

He drops on the floor, near the door, shaking violently, hyperventilating, with his heart beating fast, making constant roar in his ears. When her mother sees him, he sits there on the floor, his knees gathered to his chest, his face buried in his hands, and he's crying.

He thinks it must be the first time he'd cried since he was a kid and his mother died. He couldn't cry since. _Wouldn't cry since_. He tries to take a deep breath. Surely, he can't cry now, either...

She sits beside him, and puts her long arm around his shoulders, pulling him gently towards her. She brings his head to her own shoulder, and hugs him forcefully, and whispers to him "it's okay. You can cry now, darling. You don't have to be strong anymore. It's all going to be okay."

/

/

Her mother refuses to stay. When they're finally allowed in, she gathers her daughter into her arms, and kisses her again and again. She whispers tenderly in her ear, it's in Hawaiian, and he can't really decipher the words. Then she moves towards him, hugs him, kisses him affectionately on both cheeks, before she leaves.

They remain alone in the room, facing each other, and it's the first time he has a chance to really _look at her_. She lies in bad, her hair wet and clean, her face is still pale, her arms bruised from all the needles they stuck in her. She can move. Slowly. Can reach for some water the nurse left on the night stand. He looks up into her eyes, her big brown magical eyes... she is smiling, her dimples are showing. He leans in and kisses her thoroughly, and she returns the kiss hungrily, lacing her clever fingers in his hair.

/

/

He sits on the bad beside her, and he can see how she tries to move her leg, to make him more room. She moves slowly with great effort. He can't help but look at her in alarm.

"I'm still weak" she shrugs "they said it's normal. They said that the fact that I was in a good physical shape before, will help me get strong really fast."

He only nods in response. He still doesn't trust his own voice. He's too afraid, that if he'll try to speak, something else would come out. He's really not practiced, you see, with this whole crying business. He puts his hand on her knee gently, focusing on the way she feels under his touch.

/

/

"Steve" she whispers, making him look up questioningly "can you hold me please?"

He'll have to think about it. Maybe he should ask the nurse first, maybe she shouldn't really... _No!_ He's not asking anybody. He's not letting anything come between them anymore! Hold her? Of course he can!

He moves towards her, and moves the blanket away, revealing her lithe and slender body. He stifle a groan, she looks even thinner than usual. He untangles the IV lines, and the monitor cables, and holds her under her knees and around her shoulders, so when he sits back on the bed, she's positioned carefully in his lap. She puts her hand on his heart, and snuggles into his broad chest, burring her head in the crook of his neck, she adds a small feathery kiss there, on his beautiful and strong neck.

"Tell me everything I missed" she whispers "I remember Wo Fat dragging me into the bunker, but then... everything is blurry after that."

"You want to know everything?" he asks worriedly.

"Yes. Every little detail."

/

/

"You were breathing, you see?" he explains quietly "when we finally found you after the explosion..."

"Explosion?" she looks startled.

"Yes. Wo Fat blew up the entire bunker, after he took you in there with him."

"So you thought..." she gasps, looking at him with alarm "you thought I was..." he swallows hard, and nods once, and she kisses his neck again.

"When we came in..." he continues, trying to control his emotions "you were inside the room where they held me, lying on the floor, with a nasty cut in your head. You were unconscious, but breathing. Wo Fat's body was at the corridor, and the door between you was closed. We have no idea what happened, but Chin and Max think that you must have realized he's about to blow everything up, so you pushed him out of the room, and tried to take cover inside."

"I did?" she sounds surprised.

"Yeah" he smiles "Max found your watch in Wo Fat's hand. It was torn from your hand in a violent way. The buckle was still fastened, and there was a matching wound in your left wrist..." he skims his fingers on her bandaged wrist that lays on his chest "it could have only happened if you were pushing him away from you, and he was trying to hold on to your arm..."

"I see" she nods.

"The explosives were placed at the door to the room, remember? they wanted to blow it when we barricaded ourselves there. We think you must have realized what he was about to do it, so you pushed him away, and went in."

"So when the thing blew up..."

"You were inside, against the opposite wall, trying to protect yourself."

She smiles when he says it.

"Yes, yes" he smiles back "it took me a while until I agreed to this assumption, too. The mere idea that you _actually listened_ to me, and did what I told you... honestly, I still can't believe it..."

"What then?" she asks, after they just stare at each other lovingly for a few seconds.

"After that, we couldn't get you out of there for at least an hour. We were worried you had head or a back trauma, and we needed special gear to pull you out of there safely. It felt like ages, until the fire department got there and was able to take you out of there. You were breathing, but there were marks, and it looked... we were afraid of a blast induced trauma, so the paramedics had to intubate you while we were waiting. I saw similar injuries during my service, you see? I could tell it doesn't look good..." he takes a deep breath, trying to shake away the pain that is still there when he relives it all.

"I understand" she mumbles, as she snuggles a bit closer to him, letting him kiss the top of her head. "Then what?" she asks after a while.

"Then?" he sighs "then, the real nightmare began. They took you to the hospital, and ran all the tests they could think of. They did a head scan, a lungs scan, took blood tests and did complete neurologic assessment. It took hours, and all the time… I kept waiting for you to open your eyes and tell me you're fine... but..." he sighs "I was pretty bruised, too. Chin was too shook up to notice, but Joe and Danny, they finally made me agree to a medical checkup." He smiles bitterly "they gave me some painkillers, in the IV probably, because it knocked me right up, and when I woke up a few hours later, I was lying in the trauma unit and you were already up at the ICU."

"So, how long…? What about Moana?" she looks worried, suddenly.

"I left the trauma unit the minute I woke up" she smiles "they didn't even look surprised. I think they were shocked I managed to stay there for a full two hours..."

"And Moana...?"

"Chin promised she's fine. He came out clean, told me everything. Said she was at your mom's with Mary Ann, I…" he looks at her carefully "I couldn't bare leaving you, and I didn't know what I'm supposed to do, so I called them, and spoke to her on the phone, and she sounded so good, you know? like she always does, and she was so happy to hear me…" he shakes his head "when she asked where you were… I told her you're sick. That we're in the hospital. I told her I'll come to pick her up, as soon as I can" he shrugs "Danny said I shouldn't have told her that, but she asked, and you know how smart she is…"

"And you're such a bad liar, anyway" she smiles, caressing his cheek "I think you did good, baby. I would have done the same."

"Anyway" he continues "you never woke up. They kept you sedated, because they said it was important to keep you calm and on a breathing machine until your lungs recovered. Then they just told us to wait. I had nothing I could do, you see?" he looks at her pointedly "I had no one to fight, no one to shoot… when your mom came. God, baby, we're so lucky" he tells her seriously "I think from all of us, she was the only one who knew what to do next."

"So what did you do?"

"We decided to keep things as close to routine as possible. For Moana's sakes. We worked up three shifts. Your mom took the night time, I came to replace her in the morning after I dropped Moana in preschool, and Mary Ann took the evenings, allowing me to pick the kid up."

"What about work?" she looks at him with surprise. He only shakes his head "you didn't work?" she asks incredulously.

"No" he confirms "I stayed with my daughter, and with my wife!" She looks at him tenderly "it was hard not to, but I had to follow our program. Danny and Chin covered work in HQ, and they practically _ordered_ me out of there" he smiles "I think they really worked very hard."

/

/

"Tell me about _her_" she says eagerly, moving slightly so she can look at him better. It's like a thousand light bulbs suddenly light up inside him. He smiles brightly, his clear blue eyes sparkle with joy. He wants to tell her all about their daughter. About their sweet, lovely, strong and courageous little daughter, but he feels like he can't find the right words.

"She's..." he starts, but he just shakes his head, and smiles, looking at her with awe.

"Yeah" she smiles broadly "Totally. I know..."

/

/

"I told her you're in the hospital. That you're sick. That tutu is taking care of you, and that we have to wait. I thought about... I decided not to bring her over. I mean, you were unconscious, and the tube and the machines... I didn't want her to have too many questions, or memories..."

"I understand, baby" she says gently "it sounds very reasonable. Did she ask you a lot of questions?"

"You know... I think in a way, she knew this was different. That this was serious. You know her, she _always_ has questions, and she argues about _everything_ and... she got it from you, by the way!" he raises his eyebrows pointedly. She only shrugs, doesn't even bother to deny it "she didn't press this, you see?" Never asked to come to the hospital, never demanded to see you... she was asking about you, and she missed you... but I think she must have felt I am having a hard time, and the hospital was off the table... she's amazing." He smiles.

"She is."

They look at each other lovingly, and he moves his hand on her face, softly caressing her lips, her cheeks, her nose...

"Steve..." she whispers.

"Yes, Kono?"

"When you're ready..."

"I know. You need to interrogate me some more."

/

/

There's a lot to say about micromanagement. He used to think he had the worst tendency to do it. As a SEAL and later as a Lieutenant Commander, he had the habit of going over every little detail of an operation, reassessing everybody's role, checking every single equipment... he was wrong. His micromanagement was _a joke_ in comparison to his wife's. True, she showed some interest in the details of her injury, but when it came to her daughter... Let's just say that he stood in front of a bunch of Generals, and answered question of the joint branches debriefing committee, and it felt looser than this.

"Dropping her off in pre-school. Did you drop her off okay?" she starts with the interrogation.

"Yes" he declares "actually she was very good about it. She went in on her own. She was very cute, actually running there with her little backpack." She only measures his face with suspicion.

"What did she wear?" she continues "you know, you really have to make sure you do all the laundry in time, because she has very specific requirements in regard to her wardrobe."

"She wore the red dress, most of the time" he tells her patiently "like she wanted."

"The red dress?" she asks doubtfully "she has two of them. She only likes the one with the white pockets. I really hope you got it right, because it's really important to follow..."

"Red dress, white pockets. It was fine babe, I swear it. I had to wash it like... _fifteen times in four days_, but I'm a Navy SEAL, remember? I've handled much more complicated assignments in my time" he smiles when she looks a bit skeptical "she was very pleased with me, really. She even said so..."

"Good" she says, and he's not entirely sure she isn't surprised "what about...?"

"Shoes, backpack, all checked. Even a ponytail" he reassures her.

"A ponytail? really?" she looks at him sharply, obviously not buying it.

"Well..." he confesses "we tried..."

"I'll ask mom to show you how to do it" she laughs, but it makes her fold up with pain suddenly, and he has to hold her a bit tighter, and rub her back, and kiss her sweaty temple while she fights it for a few minutes.

"It's just my muscles" she tells him when she sees his worried face "the doctor said I might have some spasms. That it will be better when I'll be moving again. I'm fine, babe. What about breakfast?" she asks again "I hope you didn't make her eat yogurt and fruit and..."

"I made pancakes" he sighs "like she likes. Like _you both_ like. I didn't even _dream_ about approaching her with something healthy or good..." he grumbles "she was practically _overdosing_ on pancakes every single day, there, are you happy now? Seriously Kono, do we really have to go through all of this?"

"Of course we do, baby" she snuggles against him "what about the nights? How did you two sleep?"

There's a gray shadow that goes over his eyes when she asks that "she had... she refused to sleep in her own bed" he admits "we tried for a couple of times, but at the end, I just let her sleep with me."

"She's sacred" Kono whispers, her voice full with pain.

"No..." he kisses her forehead "she just misses you. Terribly. She's been sleeping in bed _with me_, let me assure you, she feels very safe."

"So she slept well?" Kono says hopefully "didn't wake up, or had bad dreams?"

"No" he says decisively "now she sleeps very well. It's me who can't get a break."

"You?" Kono looks at him with surprise.

"I'm telling you, it's like sleeping with a deranged cat. She keeps moving, and kicking. I wake up every half an hour when one of her limbs hits me in various strategic locations."

"Oh..." she smiles "my poor baby. You know, when you're going on your reserve drills? and we're both alone, I always let her sleep with me. It's one of my favorite things in the entire world." Trust his wife to pretend, just for him, that their daughter's problem to cope with him leaving her for three weeks every year, is actually a positive thing.

He decides to play her game, just for now. "You mean, you'd rather sleep with her, getting kicked at and wake up without the blanket, than sleep with me?" he asks, and she can swear he looks offended. She sends a long slender arm behind his neck and pulls him towards her, and raises her head from his shoulder so she can whispers in his ear "it's _really_ _hard_ to sleep without you, but the blanket and the kicking have nothing to do with it. It's hard to sleep when I can't touch you..."

Yeah, there might be a problem here if he's thinking about what his thinking when she is still so weak and can hardly move. He moves his tongue on his dry lips, and tries to think about football.

/

/

She sends him to bring their daughter to the hospital. It's the middle of the day, and he feels like a hole opens inside his heart when he thinks about leaving her, even if it's only for a half an hour. But she begs, and she wears she'll be fine, and he calls the nurse and explains to her that his wife is staying alone there, and the nurse looks at him like his crazy, so eventually he kisses her, as she lies back in her bad, and walks out.

/

/

He enters the pre-school and there're a lot of children running around, making noise, and he sees Ms. Pine holding one of them and cleaning his nose, but he can't see his daughter anywhere. When he listens carefully, he thinks he can hear her voice, tough, and a second or two later, there's a long shriek of happiness from behind him, and suddenly Moana's head appears on the floor between his legs.

"Daddy!" she squeaks.

"Hey baby girl" he looks down curiously "what are you doing down there?"

"We're playing _socks surfing_" she tells him, like it's obvious. It isn't.

"It's a new game little Miss. McGarrett here invented all by herself" Ms. Pine explains, looking at him with resentment "it involves all the kids taking their shoes off, staying in their socks and sliding across the floor in great speed. So far we had two injuries to the chin that required stitches, one bleeding nose and an excessive amount of crying, didn't we Moana?"

"Mmmhhhmmm" she confirms. He's quite sure his great pride in his daughter's creativity would not be congratulated by her teacher at this point.

"Right" he says, trying to hide his smile "why don't we cut this day short then? Moana, go find your shoes, we're going. I have a little surprise for you."

/

/

They sit in the car, and she's telling him all about her day in pre-school. She's talking non-stop, and laughing and explaining everything that she did, and some things that she _didn't_ do, or at least, you know, he _really hopes_ she didn't. She's happy and beautiful when he looks at her through the rearview mirror, when suddenly she stops and asks "where are we going, daddy?"

"We're going to the hospital" he says, looking at her carefully, sitting in her chair. She remains quiet, looking outside the window.

"Do you remember who's in the hospital?" he asks anxiously.

"Mommy" she says seriously.

"Yes, that's right. She feels better now. So... she wanted to see you."

She only nods, and he has no idea what to make of it. He wonders if this is the moment Danny warned him about. The moment that every parent experiences, when he realizes that perhaps, he just scarred his kid for life.

/

/

They park the car, and he helps her out, and instead of running on her own like always, she stands beside him, and sends her little hand up, and holds him. They walk slowly together, hand in hand towards the building, and into the elevator, and she doesn't even ask to push the button. Actually she doesn't say anything.

They reach the unit, and walk down the hall, and she holds him a little bit tighter, looking around her with suspicion. The nurses are all smiling at her, and she smiles back shyly, but she never leaves his hand.

They reach Kono's room, and he whispers "this is mommy's room, but we should be very quiet because she might be sleeping."

She nods seriously, and when he steps through the door, he can feel her holding his leg tightly, and hiding her face behind it.

/

/

She's beautiful. Lying in bed, eyes closed, shiny hair spread on the pillow. They stand in the doorway, both of them, mesmerized by the sight.

"_Mommy!_" she calls suddenly, still from behind his leg, and Kono's eyes are open in an instant.

"Sweetie!" she breathes. Apparently, that's all it takes.

He saw monkeys move slower than this. Before he has the time to breathe, his daughter moves like a launched rocket and climbs on the bed. She crashes into her mother's body even before he has time to stop her. He hears Kono's groan when the enthusiastic toddler sends waves of pain through her weak body, but it doesn't look like she cares when they hug each other, and kiss each other, again and again, covering each other's face with sweet loving kisses, rub their noses together, laugh together, and in Kono's case, cries. They both mumble and whisper and talk to each other eternal words of love and longing. It's a delightful sight.

/

/

He sits in the chair near her bed, and she lies there, in front of him, with the girl sprawled against her, humming happily and playing with her mother's hair.

She smiles lovingly towards him, and he thinks that it's the first time in more than a week that he feels completely relaxed, seeing the both of them there with him. He puts his hand on her knee, and smiles back.

"So, you had your guy here all to yourself for almost an entire week? Eh baby?" she kisses her daughter's head.

The girl smiles to her, putting her little hand on her mother's chick "mmhhhmm" she nods mischievously.

"How was he doing?" Kono asks her, laughing "any good?"

She looks at her father thoughtfully "mmmmm" she muses.

"You're kidding me" he groans.

"He was really really very good" she says seriously, making her mother laugh.

"Thank you, baby" he grumbles "I can't believe you actually had to think about it..."

It just makes her laugh even harder, but it hurts her, and she has to take a breath, and Moana is looking at her suspiciously and kisses her cheek tenderly and this small gesture by her three years old daughter, who smells like the ocean, is the best medicine.

"I want another one" he tells her when she's pain free again.

"Another what?" she looks at him strangely. He only indicates to their daughter who lies on the bed with her. "Really?" she looks at him surprised "I thought you wanted to wait. You said it will be hard with work and..."

"I know what I said" he cuts her off. I've changed my mind. I want another one."

"Well" she shrugs "you know what _I want_. I wanted to have another one _two seconds_ after we had her. But you'll have to get me out here first. I don't think they'll let us... run this kind of_ emmm production_ on a hospital bed..."

/

/

"A release form?" Danny looks at him with annoyance.

"No, not a release form" he tries to explain again "it's just a form that they give people to sign when they leave the hospital AMA."

"Really?" he looks at him with contempt "you mean you were actually willing to wait long enough to allow them bring over a form this time?"

"Well, she was in the unit, I had to... they made us sign" he grumbles "I swear, they were almost expecting us to leave by then. The form was practically ready for us, when we told them. They even said they have a name for it, that they call it a _McGarrett form_."

"I bet they do..." Danny shakes his head.

"I can't believe her mother let you get a away with it, or Chin..."

"She needs physical therapy, and to eat more. We can certainly handle these things at home. Besides, she wanted to be with Moana, and with me, and she missed the dog and the ocean and the..."

"Fine, fine..." Danny says, raising his hands in surrender "just... take it easy you two. She's still recuperating. You have to let her rest, and keep an eye on her and..." he stops suddenly when he sees a strange look in his partner's eyes. He knew it. He knew there was something behind their stupid decision "you two are having sex already, aren't you?" he cries incredulously, making everyone that is there on the beach with them, namely Kono's mom, Chin, Mary Ann, Grace and Moana look at him curiously. Kono is the only one who doesn't look. She's lying on her stomach on a towel, sunbathing.

"Would you rather we didn't?" she asks him lazily "he just got back to work, all hyperactive and full of energy. Would you rather have him sex deprived, too?"

"Well..." he thinks about it for a few seconds "that's an excellent point actually. Go on, then. Do your worst."

"Right" Steve raises his voice, coughing slightly to get his partner's attention "can we go back to what we were doing, now?"

"Sure, babe" Danny smiles, pulling Grace towards him, as Steve does the same with Moana "the secret lies with the pins."

"Pins?"

"Hair pins" he clarifies, pulling a bag of small pink hair pins from his pocket "you don't really have to make the perfect pony tail, as long as you secure the hair you've missed with some hair pins."

"Got it" Steve nods "so I'm not supposed to collect everything..." he gives it another try, looking carefully at what Danny is doing with Grace's hair next to him. It takes about five attempts total, but eventually Moana has a nice deep brown pony tail relatively close to the middle of the back of her head, while the rest of her hair is pined to her head meticulously, with eight matching pink hair pins "there you go baby girl" he kisses her on her head "all done. Do you like it?"

"Mommy" the little girl runs to her mother, and crashes next to her on the sand "look..."

"Mmmm...?" Kono looks at her daughter's new hairdo "yes... I can see... I'm sorry,baby..." the girl looks at her questioningly "well sweetie, at least he can make excellent pancakes... we should probably keep him."


End file.
